Where does Blue Jays' Anthony Santander signing rank among Ross Atkins' best moves?

Bringing in an All-Star and an ace

 Between the offseason and the trade deadline in 2021, Atkins may have made his two best moves as a GM. On Jan. 30, 2021, the Blue Jays signed Marcus Semien to a one-year, $18 million deal, and on July 30, 2021, the Jays received Jose Berrios from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson.

Semien, in his only season with the Blue Jays, had a monster year. With a 7.1 WAR, he set a career high with 45 home runs (which is also the league record for second basemen). He had a 131 OPS+ and won a Silver Slugger. He moved over to second base to allow Bo Bichette to continue to develop as a shortstop and it paid off, as the duo was by far one of the best up-the-middle-combos in Blue Jays history. Semien also won his first (and to date) only Gold Glove award and finished third in MVP voting.

Jose Berrios was a 27-year-old ace who not only came over for the stretch run in 2021, but then signed a seven-year deal thereafter. That is a tremendous bit of business. In his first 12 games, Berrios struck out 78 hitters in 70.1 innings pitched with a 125 ERA+, holding opponents to a .238/.289/.405 slash line and striking out 26.8% of hitters. Berrios wasn’t good in 2022, but has bounced back to his true self in 2023 (winning a Gold Glove) and 2024 (accumulating a 4.6 WAR).

Martin and Woods-Richardson could still develop into big league players and maybe even All-Stars, but in the middle of a playoff race, these are the kinds of moves you want your team to make, when necessary, to give them a chance to get into the postseason.