The Blue Jays' season would be even more disastrous if they had signed Roki Sasaki

It was a frigid Friday in Toronto when Blue Jays fans were feverishly monitoring the free agency news surrounding the latest Japanese phenom. Sound familiar?

This time, the buzz centered around Roki Sasaki, a 23-year-old Japanese amateur who had posted a 2.10 ERA in 394 2/3 innings over the prior four years in the Nippon Professional Baseball, where he also had a ridiculous strikeout (32.7%) and walk (5.7%) rates.

Sasaki was in a bit of an interesting spot, as he was an amateur, which meant that interesting MLB teams had to sign him using their bonus pool money. That led to a multitude of teams attempting to trade bonus pool money in order to entice Sasaki to accept their offer. The Jays, who were involved in the Sasaki sweepstakes from the start, sent a shock through their fanbase when they announced they'd acquired additional pool money in a trade with Cleveland.

It seemed like Sasaki was a lock to the join the Blue Jays. Until it wasn't

On Jan. 17, it was reported that the Los Angeles Dodgers landed Sasaki. Another marquee free agent had slipped through the Blue Jays' fingers.

It felt like the Blue Jays swung and missed. Not only did they trade away bonus pool money, but they were also stuck with Myles Straw, who was a career .247 hitter and spent most of 2024 in Triple-A.

The good news is the games aren't played on paper. While that trade was initially disappointing, the results have since broken in the Jays' favor since.

The Blue Jays' season would be even more disastrous if they had signed Roki Sasaki

Sasaki is the latest Dodger pitcher to land on the injured, joining a list that has also includes Blake Snell, Tyler Glasnow and even Shohei Ohtani, who is only able to play as a designated hitter right now.

And it's not like Sasaki looked great when he was on the mound, as he had a 4.72 ERA with a 6.15 FIP across 34 1/3 innings. He had a below-average strikeout rate of 15.6% with a WHIP of 1.485.

While Jays started have been struggling a bit right now, it loks like they dodged a bullet in regard to Sasaki.

After missing out on Sasaki, the Blue Jays offered a one-year flier to Max Scherzer, who has only pitched three innings so far this year due to a thumb injury. The Blue Jays took a $13 million gamble on Scherzer, and will be able to wipe their hands of the deal in the offseason regardless of how Scherzer's season goes.

Although the latest updates about Scherzer have been a little discouraging, there's still enough time left in the season for him to turn things around. He's also provided some off-the-field benefits as a sounding board for the younger pitchers on the roster.

The cherry on top of all this is the surprising production the Blue Jays have received from Straw, who is hitting .307 through 38 games this year with a home run and eight RBI. Straw has been the poster boy for the strong production the Blue Jays have gotten from the bottom of their lineup.

The Blue Jays' trade for Straw looks better and better by the day.

It's a lot easier for us to assess the Blue Jays' lack of a trade for Sasakiwith the benefit of hindsight. Of course, the front office doesn't have that opportunity. The bottom line is that the Blue Jays probably caught a break in a sport in that doesn't offer many of them.