{"id":42626,"date":"2021-01-07T13:02:34","date_gmt":"2021-01-07T18:02:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=42626"},"modified":"2021-01-07T13:02:34","modified_gmt":"2021-01-07T18:02:34","slug":"best-blue-jays-offseason-acquisitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/01\/07\/best-blue-jays-offseason-acquisitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Best Blue Jays Offseason Acquisitions of the Last 20 Seasons"},"content":{"rendered":"

A few franchise-altering deals worked out well when it comes to the Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> history of acquisitions. One that comes to mind is the trade in December 1990. Fred McGriff<\/a><\/strong> and Tony Fernandez<\/a><\/strong> were sent to the San Diego Padres<\/a> in exchange for Roberto Alomar<\/strong><\/a> and Joe Carter<\/strong><\/a>. The transaction would ultimately help the Blue Jays breakthrough and win back-to-back World Series championships. Then, there’s the trade in July 2015 that sent Daniel Norris<\/strong><\/a> and Jairo Labourt<\/strong><\/a> to the Detroit Tigers<\/a> for David Price<\/strong><\/a>. Price would be a contributing factor to ending the Blue Jays 22-year playoff drought.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Then, some moves didn’t work out at all. No one wants to remember the Michael Young trade or how the Blue Jays traded away Noah Syndergaard. Not even the B.J. Ryan signing was a fond memory too. Plus, the Roy Halladay deal was one of the worst in franchise history.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Blue Jays had some mediocre seasons from the start of the new millennium until 2010. The late 2000s and mid-2010s were some of the team’s best acquisitions in franchise history. These are trades and signings that were made in the <\/span>offseason<\/span><\/em>, not<\/span>\u00a0during<\/span><\/em>\u00a0the regular season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Blue Jays Almost Let A Fan Favorite Get Away\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Blue Jays sign 1B\/DH Edwin Encarnaci\u00f3n<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Date: December 16, 2010<\/em><\/p>\n

It was a long and winding road that Edwin Encarnacion<\/strong><\/a><\/span>\u00a0took to become a star with the Jays. In July 2009, the Blue Jays traded Scott Rolen to the Cincinnati Reds<\/a> in exchange for Encarnaci\u00f3n, Josh Roenicke, and Zach Stewart. Encarnaci\u00f3n’s early tenure with Toronto saw him struggle to the point where he was demoted to Triple-A Las Vegas<\/a> before being called up again. After the 2010 season, Encarnaci\u00f3n was claimed off waivers by the Oakland A’s<\/a>. However, on December 2, Oakland non-tendered the Dominican native, making him a free agent. A week later, the Blue Jays brought him back on a one-year, $2.5 million contract.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

By 2012, Encarnaci\u00f3n had his coming out party where he hit 42 home runs and 110 RBI that went with a slash line of .280\/.384\/.557. From there on after, Encarnacion’s strong run in Toronto was capped off with three All-Star appearances. Fans will remember him for two things: his “Edwing” trot around the bases and being the hero in the 2016 AL Wild Card Game.<\/span><\/p>\n