Last year, the Toronto Blue Jays were in the thick of the American League playoff race when the July 31st trade deadline came around. The deadline came and went, with general manager Alex Anthopoulos and the rest of the front office deciding not to make any moves.

All that did was ensure that the club would stay out of the postseason yet again – Toronto hasn’t made the playoffs since they won the World Series in 1993 – as well as make some Blue Jays players pretty annoyed. Outfielder Jose Bautista was arguably the most outspoken.

“Of course it’s a little disappointing that we somehow weren’t able to get anything done, but everyone around us that’s in contention—and even some teams that aren’t in contention like the Red Sox— somehow figured it out,” Bautista told Stephen Whyno of the Canadian Press. “Maybe they believe enough in our talent that they didn’t feel like they wanted to break up our group and sacrifice our talent and what we’ve got going.”

Well, this time around, Anthopoulos was the exact opposite of inactive. He acquired a power hitter and a top of the rotation pitcher just prior to the deadline, Troy Tulowitzki and David Price – both of whom are premier players at their respective positions. Anthopoulos has his team in a position to not only sneak into the playoffs via one of the two wild card spots, but maybe even overtake the New York Yankees for the American League East division title.

Trading for Tulowitzki was the first move, as the Jays sent Jose Reyes and three minor league pitchers to the Colorado Rockies in exchange for Tulo and veteran reliever LaTroy Hawkins. It was a trade that was questioned and criticized by plenty because they did not need more offense – they lead the league in scoring runs – and they did not address their biggest need, starting pitching.

However, Anthopoulos did not keep them worrying for very long. On July 30th, he pulled the trigger on another blockbuster trade, this time coaxing David Price away from the Detroit Tigers for three left-handed pitching prospects – most notably Daniel Norris, who was ranked the 18th best prospect in Baseball America’s most recent rankings.

So now, the Jays sport an incredibly powerful lineup that is definitely the best in the league. With a lethal first-four consisting of Tulo (13 home runs, 116 OPS+), Josh Donaldson (27 homers, 151 OPS+), Jose Bautista (23 homers, 136 OPS+) and Edwin Encarnacion (19 homers, 120 OPS+), opposing pitchers are never going to be able to relax when they are on the mound.

The fact that seven of the starting nine bat right-handed is a potential problem – a topic that Dave Cameron of FanGraphs recently addressed – but it is an issue that should not hurt a lineup with the Blue Jays’ talent.

As for pitching, the starting rotation is still nothing to write home about, but at least now it has a premier front-line starter in David Price. The 29-year-old southpaw has plenty of postseason excellence under his belt, and he is the type of pitcher that the Jays can count on to perform at his best when the lights are shining brightest.

Mark Buehrle and R.A. Dickey add two durable, veteran presences to the staff, and Drew Hutchinson offers a dynamic right-hander to the mix.

The pitching staff is nowhere near perfect, but at least they have a true ace in Price. And with the tremendously potent lineup that the Jays have, they don’t need pitchers to toss shutouts for the team to win games.

Ultimately, it has been a tale of two seasons for the Blue Jays.

Last year, they chose to do nothing. This year, they have acquired two of the brightest superstars in baseball.

Last year’s approach added another tally to the club’s playoff drought. This year’s approach could result in the same thing, but there is a chance it allows Toronto to not only make the playoffs but make a deep run.

All statistics courtesy of Baseball-Reference unless otherwise noted.