Ranking every relevant Blue Jays offseason signing (so far)

The Toronto Blue Jays sure had a turbulent offseason so far as we saw them miss out on some big name free agents, but at the same time, managed to make some key signings nonetheless. All in all, the Jays certainly hope they have made enough moves to bolster their roster for the 2024 season, with still the outside possibility that they might not be done just yet. Nevertheless, how have the Jays done with their signings to date?

Here, we will rank each of the Jays' relevant offseason signings thus far and how they could ultimately help the club. For this rankings list, we will focus only on players that actually have the chance to make a significant impact for the team this coming season. Therefore, minor depth signings ranging from Paolo Espino to Payton Henry will be excluded in our discussion.

6. Daniel Vogelbach

With the Jays looking for a power bat to inject some offense into their lineup, they took a flyer on a former recruit in veteran designated hitter Daniel Vogelbach. "Vogey" is in camp as a non-roster invitee on a minor league deal. Known mainly for his enormous power, Vogelbach once hit a career-high 30 home runs with the Seattle Mariners back in his lone All-Star season in 2019. His first tenure with the Jays was short-lived when he lasted just over a week with the team after coming over from the Mariners in a trade. 

If we take a careful look at Vogelbach’s track record, we should temper our expectations with regards to what he can bring to the team. One, he hits for a low average, and for two, he resembles the second coming of the modern day Adam Dunn. What that means is he is a “three true outcomes” hitter; 45% of his plate appearances in his career has ended with a home run, walk, or strikeout. As a result, it makes this minor gamble by the Jays on Vogelbach a potential boom or bust move.

Since Vogelbach bats left-handed, if he manages to impress enough to make the Opening Day roster, he could serve as a potential platoon with the right-handed hitting Justin Turner in the DH spot. However, with Turner showing that he could confidently handle both left-handed (.276 career average) and right-handed (.293 career average) pitching in the past, he will likely take sole possession of the DH role for the most part in 2024, leaving Vogelbach mainly as a potential pinch-hitting role or insurance depth option at best.