Free agency hasn’t been of much use for general managers around baseball this winter, Ross Atkins included.

The Toronto Blue Jays GM’s preference has been the trade market, a route he went for the fourth time this winter in order to acquire outfielder Randal Grichuk from the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.

The cost of acquiring the 26-year-old with oodles of power was reliever Dominic Leone, one of the feel-good, breakout stories of 2017, and Conner Greene, a pitching prospect with a 100-m.p.h. arm but without the command to match.

Grichuk’s standout tool is clear — the power — but he’s also considered a pretty good defender with the ability to play all three outfield spots and is controllable through the 2020 season, earning just $2.6 million in 2018.

“Athleticism, youth, control, plays multiple positions, power,” Atkins said of what Grichuk brings. “Actually, our objective and subjective information is very, very good on him defensively. I think there’s a lot to like.”

Last year, Grichuk posted six DRS (Defensive Runs Saved), splitting the majority of his time between the two corner outfield spots, which is where Atkins envisions him fitting in with the Jays.

“I think he’ll have the best chance of our group to take that position over for us in right field,” Atkins said. “But the fact we have options and will have some balance, and in today’s game, asking someone to get 700 plate appearances is asking a lot.

“There’s very few players that are doing it day in and day out, so where that number ends up, we’ll see, but I think he’ll have the best chance at the outset to be that regular for us.”

Adding Grichuk to the mix very likely means the Jays are done adding to the outfield, unless there’s subtraction at the same time.

If Atkins got creative, that could mean shedding the final year of Steve Pearce’s contract or finding a taker for Kevin Pillar in order to add one of the free-agent outfielders still on the market.

“We have to stay open about all the players on our roster,” Atkins said. “If there’s any way to make our team better, more fluid, provide more versatility, we’ll look to do that.”

But if this is the group manager John Gibbons will have when spring training opens next month in Dunedin, Fla., it would be Pillar in centre with the right-handed hitting Grichuk, Pearce and Teoscar Hernandez and lefties Curtis Granderson and Ezequiel Carrera vying for at-bats in what might be shaping up as two corner-outfield platoon situations.

“Having depth and having options is where we stated we wanted to be and we’re getting closer to being there,” Atkins said.

There’s also a group of youngsters in Anthony Alford, Dalton Pompey and Dwight Smith Jr. — all of whom are currently on the 40-man roster — right behind them.

Not to mention Roemon Fields and J.D. Davis, both in Toronto this week for the club’s rookie development program, right on their heels.

After adding a lefty bat with some power in Granderson this week — that transaction hasn’t been officially announced but it was confirmed by Atkins on Friday — Grichuk brings his power from the right side.

The owner of 66 home runs and a gaudy .239 isolated power mark in his career, there’s no doubting Grichuk’s pop, but the 2009 first-round pick of the Los Angeles Angels does come with some warts.

Despite hitting 22 homers last year in 442 plate appearances, Grichuk struck out in 30.1 per cent of his at-bats and slashed just .238/.285/.473.

Even with the shortcomings, Grichuk has been worth a total of 6.7 fWAR over the past three seasons, and his 1.4 WAR from last year would’ve made him the second most valuable outfielder on the roster behind Pillar’s 1.9 WAR.

The Jays are hoping a change of scenery, more regular at-bats, and the AL East bandboxes will help unlock Grichuk’s full potential.

Now, the focus will turn to adding pitching depth, and Atkins feels there are resources remaining — somewhere in the neighbourhood of $15 million still — to add to both the rotation and the bullpen, where they’ll now have to replace Leone’s 2.56 ERA in 70.1 innings from last season.

“I think we could add in both places,” Atkins said.