You make a couple of points. After the season Goins had last year, I was a bit surprised that he was simply let go. In hindsight it may have been better to hang onto him until now
just to see how the offseason worked out. He could have been released at any point over the offseason, if the infield improvements had been significant.
However, with releasing Goins when they did, the Jays were able to protect one additional player from the rule 5 draft. That's significant.
In any case, I agree with the rest of the posters, that it is really a moot point today, Goins/Espinosa.