Earlier today, the Blue Jays made the somewhat surprising decision to extend first baseman Justin Smoak through 2018, with an option for 2019. Via MLB.com’s Gregor Chisholm, Jays GM Ross Atkins this afternoon explained the rationale behind the move.
Edwin Encarnacion is due to become eligible for free agency after the season, provoking speculation that the Jays extended Smoak because they don’t believe they’ll be able to retain Encarnacion. Atkins denies that’s the case.
“Edwin could be a DH and Justin could be playing regularly at first base, as he was earlier this year. There’s a lot of different alternatives there,” says Atkins. “They’re on the same team now and could be on the same team moving forward.”
Atkins says the move had more to do with the possibility the 29-year-old Smoak could further develop. “[T]here’s the potential of Justin being more than the complementary player he has been over the last couple of years,” he argues.
This offseason, in addition to Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, R.A. Dickey, Drew Storen and Jesse Chavez, among others, can all become free agents, creating a difficult situation for the Blue Jays that will be exacerbated by a relatively thin free agent market. So, Atkins suggests, retaining Smoak helps ease the transition from this year’s team to next.
“Absolutely, and that’s part of it,” Atkins says. “So [we] saw this as an opportunity in a short window to see if there was something there with Justin.”
All in all, 4 million is to much for what smoak gives us, but it’s not like it’s crippling. Only reason I don’t like this is it might block rowdy tellez, who is killing it and will likely be ready next year.
You can’t get anything on the free agent market for 4 million, nothing. And I’d argue Tellez will be ready next year, he needs a year at AAA yet, plus a year in which he could be called up if he’s doing well in AAA, to see how he handles major league pitching, and Tellez is most likely nothing more than a DH if he actually proves he can even hit in the major leagues.
For slightly more (5 mil) you could get Pedro Alvarez who has been significantly better than Smoak this season (110 vs. 97 ). That said, I can see how they’d be expecting Smoak to develop more given his pedigree.
I remember people making the same type of remarks about Fielder, Pujols, Arod, etc when they hit free agency.
I would resign Chavez and EE if possible (but my feeling is he will go to BOS given how they semi undervalued him compared to JB).
Smoak is a decent player but idk, unimpressive for his position to me personally. I do like that he makes up for his low bA with a decent OBP but his HR and Ribeyes seem low to me for that position. I guess you could argue he’s been fairly consistent, as a ~.220 hitter, ~.310OBP with ~18HR and ~50 RBi a year but I wouldn’t settle for that. I guess it’s still a smart
Move in that he may blossom and become a desirable trade piece in the future…but his defense is suspect, and even in his best seasons he’s never had a WAR above 1
I agree that signing EE would be ideal. The above #’s you gave for Smoak will likely be that way for Bautista next year – maybe with just a few more HR’s.
Jose Bautista is not turning into Justin smoak next year lol. His obp and slugging is still elite, he literally only has a bad average, which is an overrated stat. That was a terrible take
I remember people making the same type of comments when Pujols, Arod, Hamilton, Fielder, etc… hit free agency. Bautista is showing massive signs of starting a long term decline. He’s going to end up being an albatross of a contract to any team that signs him.
he isnt good 226 lifetime hitter some power but strikes out way too much