Blue Jays add power-hitting DH but it’s not who fans expected

Throughout the 2023-24 offseason, many Toronto Blue Jays fans have being desperately waiting for the club to add some power bats to their lineup to enhance their offense for the upcoming season. They got one of those elusive bats with the signing of Justin Turner over two weeks ago, and now they have made their move in adding another one in short order. However, the power-hitting DH recruited might not be exactly what fans were expecting.

According to Jon Heyman, the Jays have signed veteran Daniel Vogelbach to a minor league deal. He will be invited to join the major league camp at spring training. If that name sounds familiar, it is the same player the Jays traded for back in 2020 with the Seattle Mariners for their stretch run, but then surprisingly designated for assignment just a week later. In that fateful week, Vogelbach appeared in just two games and collected a walk along with a pair of strikeouts in five plate appearances.

Taking a broad look at his career, it's nice to see his All-Star year in 2019 when he compiled a .208 batting average, .780 OPS, with 73 runs scored, 17 doubles, 30 home runs, 76 RBI, 92 walks and 149 strikeouts in 144 games played. Since then however, Vogelbach has failed to come close to matching his stellar numbers from that breakout season. Last year, he spent the year with the struggling New York Mets where he amassed a solid .233 average, .742 OPS, with 33 runs scored, 13 home runs and 48 RBI in 104 games played as their primary left-handed DH. At least it proved that he could still make things happen at the plate even when entering the wrong side of 30.

Despite hitting for a low average, with a lifetime mark of just .220, he is known greatly for his power and production, as with a career OPS of .753, he can easily put up 20-homer, 70-RBI each year over a 162 game schedule pace. With those numbers, he could potentially be a decent replacement for the departed Brandon Belt if the Jays wanted to add a power lefty DH to their lineup. If Vogelbach manages to make the Jays’ major league roster, hopefully this time around he won’t last for just a week but instead be an integral part of the Jays’ offensive attack in 2024. Overall, this transaction can easily be a low-risk, high reward for the team going forward, as we will know soon enough in due time.