There was a lot left to be desired with these moves
The Toronto Blue Jays are hopeful of building on a wildly successful 2025 season with an impactful offseason that extends their competitive window. The franchise was similarly optimistic about improving the roster a year ago following a bitterly disappointing ’24 campaign, but not all the moves they made worked out.
Anthony Santander
After the Blue Jays swung and missed on the likes of Juan Soto, Max Fried, and Pete Alonso, they pivoted to one of the more desirable bats remaining of that year’s free-agent class, Anthony Santander. The switch-hitting slugger was coming off a career-high 44 home run season with the Baltimore Orioles and seemed like a natural fit on a club that needed a power boost.
Santander was supposed to provide protection for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, and the rest of the lineup, but he struggled out of the gate with zero home runs and a single extra-base hit (a double) in his first 14 games. Things didn’t get much better over the next month and a half, and the 31-year-old was placed on the injured list with left shoulder inflammation on May 30th. He was batting just .179 with six homers, 18 RBI, and a .577 OPS over 50 games at the time.
As the Blue Jays made a miraculous run to the AL East title, reports surfaced of Santander being close to a return, often to the dismay of the fanbase. Sure enough, he was activated on September 23rd and recorded one hit and six strikeouts in 12 plate appearances over four games down the stretch.
Despite that lack of production and availability, the Venezuelan native was named to Toronto’s ALDS roster and started three of the four games against the New York Yankees, and contributed two hits in 10 at-bats, with a pair of runs driven in. He also played Games 1 and 3 of the ALCS against Seattle, but was replaced on the roster by Joey Loperfido due to back tightness.
3 Blue Jays moves from last offseason that didn’t work out as planned
Andrés Giménez
Andrés Giménez was acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Guardians, which also yielded reliever Nick Sandlin for Spencer Horwitz and outfield prospect Nick Mitchell. He was expected to provide stability and defensive excellence at second base, and there was internal optimism about getting the 27-year-old back to looking like the hitter he was in 2022.
That season Giménez broke out with a .297 average, 26 doubles, 17 home runs, 69 RBI, 20 steals, and an .827 OPS. He was an All-Star starter and finished sixth in MVP balloting. Since that season, his OPS has decreased every year, to .712 in 2023, .638 in ‘24, and just .598 last season. Gimenez’s value, rooted mostly in defensive and baserunning skills, is undeniable, but he’s been nowhere near a league-average hitter three years in a row.
The other thing that made the three-time Gold Glove winner’s first season in Toronto so frustrating was his lack of durability. After playing in 146, 153, and 152 games over the previous three seasons, Giménez was held to 101 games due to two lengthy IL stints. The positives are that he continued to play excellent defense and flashed a power swing during the first week of the season (3 HR’s in the first five games), and again in the first two rounds of the postseason.
Nick Sandlin
Getting Sandlin in the trade seemed like a coup, and he was presumed to be part of a bullpen revitalization that also featured the signing of Jeff Hoffman and bringing back Yimi García. He appeared to be a solid fit out of the gate and was put in high-leverage spots in the season’s first few weeks. He fared reasonably well with a pair of holds and a save, but also took a loss and a blown lead through his first ten appearances.
Sandlin suffered a lat strain on April 19th that caused him to miss 53 games. He returned to the team on June 20th, but only suited up for eight games before elbow inflammation sent him back to the IL and eventually ended his season. Last week, the reliever was outrighted to Triple-A, but he elected free agency on Monday.
