Missing out on Roki Sasaki and being left with Myles Straw is like rushing out to buy an N64 Expansion Pak before finding out Zellers sold out of the last Nintendo 64 console on Christmas Eve. You can’t harness the Expansion Pak unless you have the full system to play it with.
On Friday, the Toronto Blue Jays were left with a veritable $11 million Expansion Pak in Myles Straw after they learned Sasaki was taking his talents to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Swinging and missing on Sasaki was one thing, but jumping the gun on a trade for additional international bonus pool funds and Straw only to find out the Japanese phenom went elsewhere? That’s indefensible from a front-office standpoint.
There were many people – and rightfully so – calling for Ross Atkins to be fired for such a transaction. It was the latest in a long line of utter disappointments dealt to this Blue Jays fan base since the Shohei Ohtani saga last December.
Given some hindsight, the Straw trade (or the wasted Sasaki fund) is a little more defensible now. It took a few days, but the Blue Jays pivoted by signing Anthony Santander to a five-year deal. Yes, they found somebody to take their money, albeit a year longer than they probably would have preferred, but they got the power bat they needed.
When it felt like the Sasaki thing might sting into Spring Training, the Santander move fanned the flames a bit. But so too did this note from Shi Davidi’s latest at Sportsnet:
“But team officials felt the risk was worthwhile even if it only marginally upped their chances to land the coveted righty, confident the $5 million hit this season and $6 million next year wouldn’t keep them from landing additional players.”

It was a necessary swing to sway Sasaki

As out of character as it is for this calculated and risk-averse front office to flush $11 million down the toilet, they had to make that gamble even if it only increased their odds of landing Sasaki by 1%. A few million in international bonuses may not have swayed Sasaki, but the Blue Jays had to try, even if it meant being sidled with $11 million left on Straw’s deal.
If this were an organization like the Cleveland Guardians, Pittsburgh Pirates or Tampa Bay Rays, $5 million this season and $6 million might hamstring their free-agent spending. The Blue Jays can be cheap at times, but they’re not that cheap.
According to Scott Mitchell from TSN, before the Blue Jays landed the deal with the Guardians, Scott mentioned that Toronto had some offers on the table to land international bonus pool money in exchange for a good prospect.
I’m not sure if fans would’ve been more angered about eating Straw’s contract or parting with a prospect in a failed Sasaki bid, but I’d rather have the Major League player than the potential of a prospect blossoming in another organization.

The Blue Jays can afford it

As much as they like to cry poor at times, the Blue Jays are projected to have the fifth-highest payroll in MLB this season. A team with that much financial muscle can afford to boot a contract and not blink an eye about it or dwell on it for weeks or months.
If the Straw trade was the last acquisition the Blue Jays made of the offseason, those cries for dismissal would ring loud and clear for weeks and months to come. But three days later, the Blue Jays sunk $92.5 million back into their payroll, with the potential for even more to come.
I think back to March 2014, when Ervin Santana’s market had cratered so badly that he wanted to take a one-year pillow contract to re-establish his value. The Blue Jays were in dire need of starting pitching, and instead of ponying up the cash, some players offered to defer some of their salaries to come up with the dough to bring Santana aboard.
That news back in the day was about as well-received as the Straw trade from last week. Alex Anthopoulos’ approval rating took a nosedive after that story broke, and Atkins’ stock with the fan base took another expected dive.

Straw as an insurance policy for Varsho’s injury

One thing we may have overlooked about the Straw acquisition is it may have tipped the Blue Jays’ hand to how well Daulton Varsho is progressing from his injury. The last we heard was that Atkins said Varsho being available for Opening Day “could be unrealistic”.
Straw won a Gold Glove for his play in centre field with the Guardians in 2022 and while his bat is subpar, his glove is elite. If Varsho’s timeline extends into April, May or beyond, Straw could see significant playing time in centre field for the Blue Jays.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned these last few years, this front office puts a premium on defense, and the $11 million for the next two seasons might seem fair from the Blue Jays’ valuations on defensive value at a premium position like centre field.

It’s just an $11 million drop in the bucket

Even if Straw only ends up being a more expensive version of Bradley Zimmer by the end of 2025, Straw still only represents 2.1% of the Blue Jays’ $237 million-ish payroll for the 2025 season. This team can afford a write-off or two on the roster.
They did it last year with a $1 million buyout for the last year of Paul DeJong’s contract, they owed $500,000 for Whit Merrifield’s buyout, and a collective $5.65 million in the trades involving Justin Turner, Kevin Kiermaier, Cavan Biggio and Isiah Kiner-Falefa.
Sometimes throwing a few million down is the cost of doing business. The Sasaki thing didn’t pan out, but the consolation prize is they have a backup centre fielder and/or a pinch runner and late-game defensive replacement player as the 26th man on the roster.
In isolation, the transactions last Friday for the Blue Jays were reprehensible. But now, with a signing (and maybe more) to cushion the blow, it doesn’t look like a complete hellscape anymore. Just a few tiers above a hellscape, now.
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