3 offseason moves that hurt the Blue Jays the most heading into 2024

Overpaying Isiah Kiner-Falefa

It's not a bad idea to acquire depth for the major league roster, and Kiner-Falefa is exactly that depth player. He can play around the infield and outfield, be a pinch runner, and is only 28-years old. It becomes more questionable when realizing that the team already has Santiago Espinal, who is virtually the same type of player. So if IKF is not particularly a bench player, that makes him the Jays' primary 3B option. Matt Chapman certainly went through highs and lows in 2023 for the Jays, but even at Chapman's lowest, he would provide more offensive upside than Kiner-Falefa, while staying a plus defender at the hot corner.

All of that could be forgiven, and it would be simple enough to just make Kiner-Falefa the team's main utilityman, which the roster could use. The true confusion of it all lies in the contract. The Jays gave Kiner-Falefa an AAV of $7.5M over two seasons, and as the offseason went on, other infielders with similar skills began to sign contracts at a fraction of the price. Tim Anderson, Amed Rosario, and Gio Urshela all signed one year deals, with the total price for all three combined being $8M. Those infielders combined to just half a million more than Kiner-Falefa, and that's not even mentioning the extra year he was given. It became very evident that there were significantly cheaper options for infielders, but the Jays acted too aggressive early on, leaving them with one of the more puzzling signings this offseason.