Did the Blue Jays do enough at the trade deadline to set themselves up for contention in 2025?

The Blue Jays were extremely active at the 2024 Trade Deadline which included major subtractions and minor additions excluding: Joey Loperfido, Jake Bloss and Will Wagner coming for Yusei Kikuchi. They managed to restock their farm system which was ranked the worst in baseball prior to the deadline but with that being said, did the Blue Jays do enough to set themselves up for contention in 2025?

Heading into the 2024 season, the Blue Jays planned to be competitive and stuck with the same pitching staff which was ranked 4th in ERA last season led by Kevin Gausman, who was a Cy Young finalist. They signed Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Kevin Kiermaier - each of whom have subsequently been traded - and were hoping for continued success from their core players: Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Bo Bichette.

Unfortunately, the 2024 season simply hasn't gone as planned, the Blue Jays were forced to sell for the first time since 2019. As a result they traded away, rentals Danny Jansen, Yusei Kikuchi, Yimi Garcia, Trevor Richards, Turner and Kiermaier, as well as Nate Pearson and Kiner-Falefa. In return, the Blue Jays have upgraded their talent in the farm system, which is projected to be the 22nd best according to FanGraphs, Wagner and Jonathan Clase (acquired in the Yimi Garcia trade), are projected to be called up to the Majors this year.

It is without question that the front office took a risky approach towards the deadline and it'll be a while before we know whether the risk has paid off for them. Perhaps the biggest successes from the deadline are managing to keep ahold of Guerrero and Bichette and acquiring Loperfido in the Kikuchi trade, with the latter making his debut on Wednesday in the series finale against Baltimore.

They also managed to add pitching depth, something which the organization lacked in Ryan Yarbrough and Jake Bloss, both of whom already has some experience of pitching in MLB. However, by trading away Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk coming out of the game last night, Brian Serven is their remaining catcher on the active roster, therefore the Blue Jays severely lack catching depth and will need to address this in the offseason.

At it stands, the Blue Jays are without 14 players who started the season on the Opening Day roster due to trades or injuries. Their lineup for the rest of the season will be drastically different to the one that was rolled out back in Tampa Bay on March 28 yet George Springer, will still be leading off and Daulton Varsho will continue his Gold Glove campaign. For the remainder of the season, younger players will be given the chance to shine in what is now 'audition season'. The present may look bleak, however thanks to a hugely successful Deadline, the future of this team looks incredibly bright. If the Blue Jays can make a few more additions in the offseason, there's a real possibility they could contend in 2025 nonetheless this will require some improvements from veteran players.