5 players the Blue Jays will wish they had acquired this offseason

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In recent weeks, the Toronto Blue Jays had their sights set on some big name players, including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and even Juan Soto. However, they came away empty-handed despite their valiant efforts. In doing so, the Jays may have inadvertently missed out on some key players that were at one time available during this offseason. These players could have played an important role on their 2024 roster had they chose to take them into consideration.

As a result, we take a look at five players the Jays will wish they had gone after this offseason who have now joined other teams since.

DH/C Mitch Garver

With news on the Brandon Belt front as quiet as a mouse, it is looking more and more likely that the Jays will not be getting him back as their designated hitter for the 2024 season. While they have waited patiently on addressing their DH spot this offseason, one prime target came off the board in Mitch Garver, who recently signed with the Mariners. Garver would have been a great fit for the Jays with his ability to hit for both power and average at the same time. As a catcher by trade, he also would've provided some necessary insurance at the position after seeing both Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk endure in some injury woes in recent years.

Garver broke out in 2019 with the Twins when he hit .273 with a stellar .995 OPS, to go along with 31 home runs and 67 RBI. His impressive performance enabled him to capture his first Silver Slugger. Last season with the Rangers, he mustered 19 home runs and 50 RBI in just 87 games, while adding another 3 home runs and a whopping 15 RBI in 14 games in the playoffs to help the team win the World Series for the first time ever.

More importantly, Garver was money when hitting with runners in scoring position for 2023, as he batted .306 with a .981 OPS, 5 home runs and 34 RBI in such situations. Even more impressive was that fact he was even more clutch when hitting with two outs with RISP, going 11-for-31 for a .355 average, 1.169 OPS and 19 RBI in the process. Garver would have addressed the Jays’ lack of productivity in the clutch, which has ailed them for much of the past couple of seasons, but that opportunity is no longer available now.

3B Jeimer Candelario

Another free agent target the Jays missed out on when their efforts were focussed elsewhere was third baseman Jeimer Candelario. The Reds ended up inking him to a short three-year deal worth $45M with a club option for a fourth year, when he was projected to receive a four-year deal worth closer to $70M. With the lack of quality free agents this offseason at the hot corner, Candelario represented the second-best option behind Matt Chapman.

Last season, Candelario put together a solid year by hitting .251 with an .807 OPS, 77 runs scored, 39 doubles, 22 home runs and 70 RBI across two teams. In addition, he even showed some flashes of speed, swiping a career-high 8 bases in 2023. Defensively, Candelario has maintained a respectable fielding percentage close to the league average of .970 over his eight-year career at third base.

With Candelario now off the table and the status of their pursuit of Chapman still unknown, the Jays resorted to signing utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa recently. Perhaps temporarily slotted in as the ballclub’s new third baseman, Kiner-Falefa is a huge downgrade from what Chapman provided to the ballclub. In comparison, even though Candelario may not be as defensively sound as Chapman, at least he could have put up similar numbers to Chapman from an offensive standpoint. More importantly, Candelario was an ideal stop-gap solution for the Jays while they await for the eventual arrivals of either of their top prospects Addison Barger or Orelvis Martinez in the near future.

OF Tyler O’Neill

Prior to the recent re-signing of outfielder Kevin Kiermaier, there was a younger and better version of him available through trade in Canadian-born Tyler O’Neill. Wouldn’t it have been great to bring home one of our own and at the same time boost the offensive potential for one of the Jays’ prime fielding positions?

After all, O’Neill is only two years removed from his breakthrough season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2021 in which he posted an impressive .286 batting average and .912 OPS, with 89 runs scored, 26 doubles, 34 home runs, 80 RBI and 15 stolen bases. On top of that, his exceptional defensive play in the field in which he has put up 25 DRS along with a .976 fielding percentage so far over his six-year MLB career has also earned him two Gold Glove awards in the process.

However, he ran into some injury woes in the past two seasons and had been even relegated to a more reduced role with the team recently. Subsequently, he was eventually dealt this offseason to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for two minor league pitchers in Nick Robertson and Victor Santos, with neither being a top 30 prospect in the Red Sox system. The Jays could have easily matched or exceeded the package of players in which the Cardinals received, but instead missed out on what could have been a significant, low-risk, high-reward move for the ballclub.

SP Luis Severino

The Jays aren’t currently desperate for starting pitching help. But with the uncertainty of whether Yusei Kikuchi can reproduce his solid numbers from last season, along with whether Alek Manoah can bounce back from his disastrous 2023, it wouldn’t be a bad idea if the team invested in some pitching depth to add to their back end of the rotation for 2024.

One premium starting pitcher candidate that fits the bill in which they missed the boat on was former New York Yankees’ ace Luis Severino. The 29-year-old free agent was signed by the New York Mets to a modest one-year deal worth $13M back in early December. It was not too long ago when Severino was one of the top starters in all of baseball. Not only was he a strikeout machine, averaging double-digit strikeouts per nine innings, but he also finished as an AL Cy Young finalist back in 2017.

However, some ill-timed injuries in recent years have derailed Severino’s once-promising career, including Tommy John surgery, multiple lat strains and a groin strain over a four-year period since 2019. He did show glimpses of reverting to his dominant form in his 2022 season when he pitched to a 7-3 record with a 3.18 ERA with 112 strikeouts in just 102 innings of work. But he essentially followed it up with his worst season of his career last year in which he struggled to a 4-8 record with a 6.65 ERA and 1.65 WHIP.

There is no doubt that Severino is certainly equipped with the skills and talent to excel as a starting pitcher at the major league level. As long as he can finally put his injury troubles behind him, he could provide surprising ace-level quality pitching from the back end of the rotation. And at just a one-year deal, it was a length the Jays should have gambled on to provide the necessary insurance to their rotation for 2024.

SP Michael Wacha

Perhaps one of the more underrated, under-the-radar pitchers in the past two seasons in the league is veteran starting pitcher Michael Wacha. A former first round pick by the Cardinals from the 2012 MLB Draft, Wacha had a strong start to his career in his first three seasons. It was still early in his career, but he was a main cog in helping the Cardinals reach the World Series in just his rookie season in 2013, while becoming the NLCS MVP in the process.

However, after becoming a first-time All-Star in 2015, Wacha was unable to carry on his early success into his succeeding years. From there on, he regressed somewhat for the next few seasons with an ERA constantly above 4 and a WHIP above 1.3, leading to his eventual departure from the Cardinals. Unexpectedly, he has been able to turn his fortunes around in his past two seasons to become one of the top and most reliable pitchers in MLB in the process. For the past two years with the Red Sox and San Diego Padres, Wacha posted a dominant 25-6 winning record to go along with a 3.27 ERA, 127 ERA+, 1.14 WHIP, with 228 strikeouts in 261.2 innings pitched in 47 starts.

Despite that success, he only signed with the Kansas City Royals for a two-year deal worth $32M this offseason. At just the ripe age of 32, he should remain an effective pitcher even as he ages since he relies mainly on a four-pitch arsenal in which his curveball, cutter and changeup are all at considerably different lower speeds compared to his fastball in the low 90s. He would have been an ideal addition to the Jays’ starting rotation and could have even battled for a front end spot at just a value price.

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