Sizing up the Toronto Blue Jays offseason heading into Spring Training.

Ross Atkins and his management staff were public-enemy number one in Toronto early into free agency.

First, they missed out on Juan Soto, who they had been hoping to add before the free-agency period even began.

The Blue Jays acquired second baseman Andres Gimenez from the Cleveland Guardians in a multi-player deal.

Kind of a head scratcher at the time for weary Blue Jays fans.

It was underwhelming trade because in an offseason where they were looking for offense, they ended up with a three-time gold-glover.

It felt like the Blue Jays weren't going to be able to land anybody of significance on the free-agent market, but that finally changed on January 10, when they were able to sign relief pitcher Jeff Hoffman to a three-year deal.

Hoffman, who was once a highly-touted prospect in the Blue Jays organization, is coming off of the first All-Star appearance of his career.

Hoffman had the best two seasons of his career in Philadelphia.

He made the big league roster in early May of the first season and turned in 52 1/3 innings of 2.41 ERA ball.

That performance made him a key piece of Rob Thomson's leverage group heading into 2024.

Hoffman posted even better numbers during his second season at Citizens Bank Park. He worked 66 1/3 innings with a 2.17 ERA while striking out more than a third of opposing hitters.

Over his tenure with the Phils, Hoffman turned in a 2.28 earned run average with a 33.4% strikeout percentage.

He kept his walks to a modest 7.4% clip and held opponents to a .180/.249/.295 slash in 473 plate appearances.

Less than two weeks after nabbing Hoffman, the Blue Jays were able to land a powerful bat, signing outfielderAnthony Santander to a lucrative five-year contract.

Santander, 30, has established himself as one of the better power bats in the league in recent years.

Santander appeared in the 2024 All-Star Game, and is coming off of a career-high 44 home runs and 102 RBIs with the Baltimore Orioles.

That was his personal best but it was also his sixth straight season in double digits and third straight with at least 28 long balls.

Santander's splits have been fairly close to neutral in his career.

He has hit .252/.320/.467 for a 116 wRC+ against lefties, .243/.302/.470 for a 111 wRC+ against righties.

The Blue Jays weren't done there, either, as they were able to work out a one-year deal with Max Scherzer.

The 40-year-old struggled to stay health in 2024, but was effective when on the mound with a 3.95 ERA.

Scherzer's age creates some concern but he has been remarkably durable throughout his career.

In each full season from 2009 to 2023, he made 27 or more starts and logged at least 145 1/3 innings.

From 2013 to 2018, he had six straight seasons of hitting the 200-inning plateau.

In short, 2024 was the first season of his career where he missed significant time.

It seems that the Blue Jays offseason momentum is picking up especially after they signed Scherzer.

Scherzer may help attract the last piece or two Toronto needs to round out this club before spring training.

He may be the offseason turning point.

The reason why I say that is because Scherzer doesn't come to Toronto in the first place if he doesn't believe this team has a lot of potential going into the 2025 season.

Scherzer is 40 years old and doesn't have a whole lot of time left in this league.

He didn't just come to Toronto and hang out to play baseball. Obviously he knows something that we don't going forward in with the Blue Jays this season.

Yes money is a factor but not the only factor, in otherwards he has to believe the Blue Jays can win in 2025.

Toronto's defense behind Scherzer is fantastic and the best in baseball overall.

The addition of one more bat, like Pete Alonso for instance makes this team a force to be reckoned with in the American League.

And you can bet that signing Scherzer adds credibility to anyone else who may be considering coming to Toronto.

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