Ross Atkins' Griffin Conine trade with Marlins looks worse for Blue Jays after breakout season

The Miami Marlins may have already benefitted from a Toronto Blue Jays castoff this season. Otto Lopez has emerged as an offensive star this season. At one point in time Lopez was designated for assignment by the Blue Jays, but he as gone on to become one of the top hitters in the National League.

Lopez has posted a .305 average along with 91 runs scored, 11 home runs, 71 RBIs and 32 stolen bases in 152 games played. He was also named an All-Star for the first time.

He may not be the only former Blue Jays' hitter the Marlins are currently reaping the benefits of. One slugger is starting to make a forgotten trade now look like one of the worst trades that Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins has made.

That slugger is none other than Griifin Conine, the son of former two-time All-Star and "Mr. Marlin" himself, Jeff Conine.

Conine was dealt by Atkins to the Miami Marlins at the 2020 deadline for Jonathan Villar. The deal was actually for a player to be named later and now that it's much later, we're seeing how lop sided this deal has become.

Villar never panned out with the Blue Jays as he batted just .188 with a .481 OPS. He added just three runs scored, zero home runs, six RBIs and seven stolen bases in 22 games down the stretch for the Jays that year. He struggled so much that Toronto ended up limiting him to two plates appearances during their foray into the expanded playoffs that season.

As for Conine, it may have taken some time, but he has finally developed into an impactful big leaguer this year. In 88 games, the 29-year-old outfielder has compiled a .256 batting average, .831 OPS, with 42 runs scored, eight doubles, 17 home runs and 39 RBIs.

That would have had Conine on pace for 80+ runs, 30+ home runs and 70+ RBIs over a full season, but he suffered a left hamstring tear in April and returned in June. His power seems legitimate as well, as he recently made a statement against one of the best closers in the game.

Griffin Conine seems to be the exact thing the Blue Jays were missing in 2026

More notably, his 17 home runs would have put him second among the Blue Jays this year behind Kazuma Okamoto. Conine would have fit in nicely in the Blue Jays’ lineup considering they lacked power at the plate this season. It also felt like they were an outfielder short all season.

Atkins wanted some speed in the lineup back in 2020 in their pursuit of Villar. But unfortunately, that didn't pan out and the result was Conine going the other way. Nobody could have predicted that he would have turned into this kind of player, but he's the exact player the Blue Jays greatly covet right now.

Conine was drafted in the second round of the 2018 draft and the 2020 pandemic may have been an incredible detriment to this trade on the Blue Jays' side. Conine spent just 131 games in the Blue Jays' minor league system between 2018 and 2019 - with the 2020 minor league season's cancelled.

Over those 137 games, Conine played in three different minor league levels and hit 29 home runs, the fourth most among all of Toronto's minor leaguers over that time. Those were his age 20-21 seasons and his 140 wRC+ was ranked 7th, while he slashed .266/.348/.515. Without the 2020 season to showcase what could've been his continued upward trajectory, he became expendable.

With Toronto's constant struggles with their offense in 2026, this trade becomes a little harder to stomach considering Conine could have been a part of that young core that emerged at the beginning of this decade.

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