The failures of the 2024 Blue Jays were necessary for the 2025 Blue Jays’ success

For the first time in a decade, the Toronto Blue Jays are on a double-digit win streak.

There’s a special air to this team, one similar to the 2015 Blue Jays, even though the teams are built differently. That said, the Blue Jays wouldn’t be the team they are now if it were not for the awful season they had last year.

A quicker refresher: The Blue Jays entered the 2024 season with high expectations, only to end the season 74-88, well out of a postseason spot. As bad as that season was, and trust me, it was made worse after watching the Edmonton Oilers fall in the Stanley Cup Finals, it allowed the team to get a look at their MLB-ready prospects.

From 2020 until 2023, you’d be hard-pressed to find a prospect who entered the team and had a significant role. Alek Manoah is a good example in 2021, and so is Davis Schneider during the 2023 season. Other than those two, they didn’t really have a prospect breakout at the big league level.

One of the biggest reasons the Blue Jays are on this 10-game winning streak, lead the division by three and a half games, and have their best record in franchise history before the All-Star game is because of Addison Barger.

This season, the third baseman/right fielder is slashing .268/.327/.515 with 12 home runs in 252 plate appearances for a 131 wRC+. He started to get going in late April, right around the time the Blue Jays were able to get out of their early-season funk.

The question is, would Barger find the same success if he hadn’t already had a taste of the big leagues? It’s the same argument for Nathan Lukes, as he was called up toward the end of the 2024 season and finally got some regular playing time in the big leagues. Other players, such as Joey Loperfido, Leo Jiménez, Jonatan Calse, and Will Wagner, are MLB prospects who are either ready for action or already on the team.

Toronto’s strategy from 2020 until when they sold at the deadline in 2024 was the lean heavily on veterans. By losing, they were forced to play their young players, and that has been a big help in 2025.

Another reason, arguably the far more impactful reason, is that the 2024 season caused the Blue Jays to sell at the trade deadline. The impact may not have happened yet, but it’s clear the Blue Jays need to make a big splash. At last season’s deadline, Justin Turner, Yimi García, Danny Jansen, Nate Pearson, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Yusei Kikuchi, and others were shipped off. Some of the best prospects performing prospects in this season were acquired in those trades.

Take Yohendrick Piñango, acquired in the Pearson trade. Between Double-A and Triple-A, the outfielder is slashing .269/.380/.477 with 12 home runs in 278 plate appearances for a 144 wRC+,  the second-highest for qualified hitters. RJ Schreck, acquired in the Turner trade, is slashing .256/.387/.506 with 11 home runs for a 158 wRC+, the best among players with 200 or more plate appearances in the organization.

Those trades have helped bolster the farm system, not just making it better, but also giving the Blue Jays a glut of upper-minor prospects. That’ll help the big league roster in the next few years and will also provide them with prospect capital to trade ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

After years of failing to win a playoff game or even make the postseason, it looks as if the losing 2024 season finally woke up the front office to address needs. In just one off-season, they rebuilt their bullpen, added another starter, and added a much-needed power bat in Anthony Santander, even if he hasn’t quite hit the standard you’d expect yet.

As painful as the 2024 season was to watch, it caused the needed changes to make this team a true contender, and the 2024 trade deadline will pay dividends a year later.