The Blue Jays have announced a two-year, $12.5MM contract with first baseman/outfielder Steve Pearce. ESPN’s Buster Olney had reported earlier this morning that talks between the two side were gaining some traction.
The 33-year-old Pearce will bring to Toronto a strong right-handed bat that can either share time with Justin Smoak at first base (though Smoak is a switch-hitter, he hits right-handed pitching better than lefties). Pearce’s lefty-mashing ways will complement Smoak’s skill set nicely, and he also has plenty of experience in the corner outfield, where the Jays are lacking options with both Michael Saunders and Jose Bautista hitting the open market. What the signing means for Edwin Encarnacion remains to be seen. Certainly, Toronto could view Pearce and Smoak as a serviceable combination at first base and shift focus to the corner outfield. As was the case with the addition of Kendrys Morales, this signing doesn’t seem to preclude a reunion, but it does appear to further diminish the likelihood of a deal.
Dating back to 2013, Pearce has slashed a robust .266/.348/.485 with an average of 27 homers per 162 games played. He’s been especially productive against southpaws in that time, batting .272/.359/.523 in 418 plate appearances. From a defensive standpoint, Pearce has more than 650 innings at both corner outfield spots and first base, and he’s also 242 innings at second base over the past two seasons with the Rays and Orioles. While Pearce may not contend for a Gold Glove anytime soon, his defense in both outfield corners and at first has graded out as average to slightly above average over the course of his career (per Defensive Runs Saved and Ultimate Zone Rating).
Pearce underwent forearm surgery back in September, but that procedure was said to come with a four- to six-month recovery timeline, suggesting that he should on track for Spring Training. That the Jays felt confident enough to offer two years would indicate that his rehab is progressing as planned. It’s a notable departure from last winter, when Pearce languished on the free agent market into late January before he took a one-year deal with the Rays.
Olney was the first to report the agreement and the terms of the deal (via Twitter).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Ladies and Gentlemen, “Edwing” has left the building.
I miss AA running this team
Because he was renowned for big offseason signings 😉
Thor anchoring that rotation would be great.
I think the best/fairest way to evaluate AA’s deals is all together. I liked his strategy personally. Draft a bunch of high upside HS arms. Let them rip up the low minors and deal them as lottery tickets for more proven MLB players. Ya he gave up Thor but he kept Sanchez. Ya he dealt Daniel Norris but he also dealt Nicolino for some value. Sure he acquired Dickey who never came close to his Cy Young year as a Jay, but he also acquired Donaldson. The thing with dealing young high upside arms is that while some will inevitably hit, many will not make it as MLBers. All that said, he did trade a tonne of young arms and certain ones (Thor, Desclafani, Musgrove) seem like they will hurt for years to come.
AA made his mistakes, but let’s not forget the Donaldson trade, getting Drvon Travis for Anthony Gose (lol) and Marco Estrada while his value was low. When he missed he missed big, but when he hit they were great outcomes
Us Mets Thanks are very gracious for Thor, we thank you kindly.
I am a mets fan and this d-bag does not represent me. I am not gloating. This is why its embarassing to be a mets fan.
Let’s not forget trading the untradeable Vernon Wells.
And then immediately following that up with one of his worst moves trading Napoli for Frank Fransisco
In the meantime, RAD ate up a whole pile of innings for us, and at a very reasonable price.
jbs32, The Wells move was one of the best moves of all time. Getting nothing in return was great value. Francisco was”needed” at the time.
to AA’s defence…thor was having a difficult time in AAA playing with the vegas 51s with roughly a 5.68 era…maybe just a bad year or maybe a credit to the mets pitching staff…but prospects are always a crapshoot
You miss AA trading Syndergaard and D’Arnaud for Dickey? You miss AA trading the majority of the farm for 30 year old players who are no longer in their prime? While the Donaldson deal will be his biggest acquisition what AA effectively did during the end of his tenure was undue what he was trying to do throughout his entire tenure- build a championship team through youth. While the end was a success and the Jays made the playoffs for the first time do not forget that much of his tenure was also filled with failure. Now I’m not endorsing this current management I think it’s interesting to show that not only did they fortify last year’s team to make the playoffs again, they were able to do so without giving up any significant pieces of the future. They were even able to get prospects back in return! While I’ll miss the days of EE and Bautista leading the charge I am excited to see this management build a more diversified team while also rebuilding the youth in our farm system.
Don’t you feel like Shatkins is pulling back on the reigns when they should be spending that little bit extra to push this team over the top? I agree building with youth from a strong system is ideal, but when you’ve been to 2 consecutive ALCS and revenue has spiked in a significant way, I find it disappointing to see them going for the Steve Pearces and Justin Smoaks of the world instead of re-signing EE or getting Fowler or addressing the bullpen. Though I realize all of these things are theoretically still possible, it seems to me the most likely outcome is them starting with plans B, C, and D then shrugging their shoulders and saying, “well, there’s no room or money for plan A.” While I could be totally wrong, and I hope I am, it really seems like these guys were hired to positively spin to the fans that Rogers is cheap.
Actually Gose was not even included in the Halladay trade.
It was Drabek, D’Arnaud and Wallace even worse !!!!
Wallace was from Oakland. They flipped Michael Taylor in the Halladay trade to Oakland to get Wallace.
Which is actually even worse still. Taylor has had even less success than Wallace or Gose, and doesn’t even appear to be playing baseball anymore.
I think you forget what shape the organization was in when AA took over. He had a team that had been treading water for years, with a bottom of the ladder farm system, an understaffed scouting system, and no real player development strategy. Wat you call failure in the early years, I call a resounding success, because it led to where they are right now. The teams that made the playoffs the last 2 years were a direct result of what AA did behind the scenes in those years you called a failure.
I think it is completely foolish to assume because a team did not sign a particular player that they are cheap or bad at their jobs. Toronto has never been a prime destination for free agent players. The team also seems to get into bench clearing altercations at least 4 times a year. A lot of people hate the Jays. Maybe Fowler doesn’t want to play in Toronto? Maybe EE, while saying he would like to stay in Toronto, actually wants to go somewhere else and play and is perpetrating a farce in order to save the organization face? Or maybe not. Remember when Buehrle got traded to Toronto? He made some great points about how difficult it is for a lot of baseball players to stomach moving to an entirely different country to play. Without actually being involved in these discussions, it is impossible to say. We can judge trades based on performance, but we cannot judge a management team based on who they did and did not sign. We are not privy to far too many relevant factors. Plus, for everybody drooling over AA, lets not forget that he never accomplished anything in free agency. The core of his team was homegrown guys and guys acquired via trade.
It’s a hassle to move your family to any new city. With the amount of effort involved in that alone, the small additional steps to move to Toronto as opposed to another American city are basically nothing. Not to mention these guys get all sorts of help from the team and could afford to hire a personal assistant for additional help if they wanted; I’m not going to shed any tears for any delicate souls who think it’s some big hassle to move to Toronto.
So true! Toronto is a wonderful and diverse city and I don’t get why it’s such an inconvenience to sign with Toronto via free agency for players. Every city has their advantages and while some may think tax is a disadvantage here, it really isn’t as bad in comparison (unless in Florida, Texas or Seattle, really). And if it’s the stigma of just “moving to another country”, then they really haven’t done their homework.
if i can offer a different perspective…home runs killed the jays this year..you might be scratching your head after that comment but think about…what percentage of those home runs were solo and on a larger note..how anemic and inconsistent was the hitting( even marketing took advantage with “make it rain””) the hitting in the alcs was non existent…..maybe giving up an ee or joey bats for two paul molitor style players would make home runs more effecient..morales tulo donaldson travis martin easily give 20+ hr seasons…but lets maximize those round trippers with some extra basemen..
as for shapiro and atkins (lets face its not really atkins show..its shapiros…or else aa wouldnt have left) I wasnt a happy jays fan when it all went down..but there was something that kind of stuck in my craw that forced me to change my feelings…how did cleveland do this year..so im keeping an open mind…theyve done a smart job so far this off season…nice to grab fowler if it happens…like to see blevins cement the relief core…maybe even the possible reunification of bautista in a 2 yr deal(i think joey bats might be regretting not taking the q.o and i do believe the draft pick is a super thorn for him…and did atkins or shapiro forsee this?) and ben revere (defence and speed)
I don’t miss him at all since the day he traded a well regard catcher in D’Arnaurd/Synderguaard for a 38 yr old Dickey and Norris, Boyd, Labourt for 1/2 of Price who couldn’t even win a ball game for us in the play offs !!!!
Also trading Napolis for Frank Francisco was brutal as well and so was. Doc Halladay for Drabek, Gose, D’Arnaud !!!
Only things I can recall Anthopolus doing well is acquiring Donaldson for Lawrie, Nolin, Graveman, Barreto and getting rid of that atrocious Vernon Wells contract by acquiring Napolis but then He ruin it when he flip him to Texas for a CL wanna be !!!
There; I don’t miss him at all and LA will regret having him in a couple of yrs when he does the same to their farm system !!!!
He doesn’t have full control in LA, and they’ve been pretty stingy moving top prospects, even when everyone expected them to go all-in and move some big prospects, so I think their farm will be fine.
You realize AA was the guy that signed JB and EE to those extremely team friendly deals? You realize he was the guy that stocked the farm to make the trades to NYM and FLA? And then, stocked it again to make the trades to get Price, Tulo, Revere etc… He traded Gose for a top line 2nd baseman. The ONLY thing AA did that I hated at the time, was trading for Dickey. He did it because of the trade with FLA. But I still thought it was a mistake. And it was, but GMs are going to make some mistakes. AA did an incredible job here. You can look at everything he traded away, but then sk yourself, how the F*** did he have that to trade away twice in the span of a few years? Teams would drool over that kind of system once never mind TWICE!! Nevermind he left VGJ, Pompey, Alford, Tellez etc… still in the system. Shapiro blew his first draft. It being rated close to the bottom by scouts. AA was always good at stocking the farm, and then he traded it to make a decent team. Now we’re complaining? The last two years are all on AA. Lets see what Shatkins can do. It’s not looking good with the offseason and the draft.
The success of their drafting will be determined by the results of it in the coming years, not on what a handful of scouts have to say. Besides, the commentary I have heard was that their draft was solid, not anywhere near bottom of the league.
Agree….feel this confirms that EE is out. Will be interesting to see where he lands.
No really !!
They can still land Edwin to play 1B/DH with Morales and use Pearce and Smoak as great bench pieces of Pearce in RF while Smoak stays in the bench and Edwin plays 1B
Even if they only carry 12 pitchers, and split Morales and EE at 1b and DH, they can’t keep both Pearce and Smoak as bench options. That leaves only 2 bench spots, and one is a backup catcher. They need at least a backup middle infielder and a backup CF, so it won’t work. You’d have to make Pearce a full-time OF.
I would’ve taken that contract
6.25 per year? I’m fine with that, especially since he’ll give a lot of versatility, which still makes EE a possibility.
Exactly !!!!
He’s like a Ben Zobrist type of option
EE is gone! EE over played his hand. 34 years old and wanted a 5 year deal for 125 million? What a joke. He will be lucky to find a 3 year deal. Toronto offered him 4 for 80 million and he passed????
This is a fine, sensible signing. Perhaps even a little less than he deserves, as I think he’s a much more valuable asset than Matt Joyce, who only got 1 million less.
He will look good in blue no doubt.
I still wouldn’t rule out EE signing. As mentioned previously he can play in the OF too. Could be more of a Michael Saunders replacement in the OF.
He’s played a grand total of 32 innings in the outfield in his career, during which he caught five balls. Given that he’s 34 and isn’t exactly fleet of foot, I really don’t see how anybody could seriously consider him as a full time outfielder, or even as a platoon player.
its still possible to sign EE. all the jays would need to do is dump smoak. The jays are a solid bullpen arm and one dexter fowler away from another long playoff run.
I assume this would take them away from dealing for Curtis Granderson or Jay Bruce. Unfortunate.
not necessarily…too early to tell
The last thing this team needed was another defensive liability in the OF. Jay Bruce would have been a terrible addition IMO
“Smoak hits right-handed pitching better than lefties — and also has plenty of experience in the corner outfield”
…pretty sure this is talking about Pearce not Smoak.
Haha. Definitely.
are the jays losing their entire OF to FA?
No. Kevin Pillar is staying in CF. Upton and Carrera are both under contract. At the moment, it would Pillar in CF, Upton in RF, Pearce in LF and Carrera mixing in for days off, or when Pearce fills in at 1B or 2B. Lots of offseason to go though.
There is obviously a domino effect to this deal. I believe that Encarnacion ends up with Cleveland. If they have one weakness it’s on offense and he’s an upgrade over Napoli. Also, since I have him going to Cleveland, Napoli won’t return and will go to Baltimore because I believe Trumbo will not return. Baltimore doesn’t tend to do big deals (unlike why they have to Chris Davis).
Cleveland has never spent over $60M to sign a FA in their history (not BS, look it up on google). Unless Cleveland ownership has adopted a totally new agenda, it will not sign EE. He’s WAY TOO PRICEY for their liking.
Pearce can also play 2b if Travis is hurt. Good signing but Smoak sucks. Don’t want him playing even just against lefties. Don’t understand why they gave him a two year contract this past year. If they aren’t still in on EE, hope they grab Moreland too. I would even settle for Carter as Pearce’s platoon partner and bat off the bench with pop. Pearce can platoon in LF as well so we still need a RF. Bruce? Fowler?
Smoak’s would only play against righties, he is terrible against lefties and roughly average against righties. also why would you platoon two right handed hitters? that makes no sense.
Smoak is awful against all pitching
Both correct, and an understatement. Smoak is not a MLB level player.
Smoak is a switch hitter is he not? Anyway I would hope he doesn’t get the bulk of the ABS
EE probably ends up with Boston now that his market has dried up.
Good signing
smoke weed !!!
I do miss AA as well, but let’s not forget that the payroll is already high, that there is several holes on the team to filled and that last year, the offense was not very good for most of the year anyways. The Jays did scored 759 runs, but they seemed to come in bunch and unevenly (1-3 runs for 5 straight games, 8-10 runs for straight 3 games, etc). We all saw what the Jays lacked during the postseason: depth. Now, I know EE and JB are pretty good , but if you sign both, you don’t have the money to put together a complete team and you end up just like the past two years: losing in the playoffs against a good team with a good bullpen. And as I said before, you don’t want to block your prospects who look like future 1B/DH like Tellez and Guerrero. If you sign EE for 4 years, combined with the Morales contract, there is no way you will be able to put these 2 on your roster. And I think they are closer to MLB than people might think.
What would frustrate me though, is if they miss on a guy like Fowler and if they don’t add good bullpen arms. I think they really need a real leadoff guy and Fowler would fit the bill perfectly. They could also use a guy like Pagan.
Tellez is pretty close, I’m projecting a late season debut in 2017. Guerrero is still just 17 and played in Rookie ball last year. I know he said he wants to be on the Jays by age 19 but I doubt he conquers 3 or 4 levels of minor league ball within 2 years and does so without issue at some point. I firmly believe you have to work under the assumption that Vladdy Jr is 3 or 4 years away at a minimum, which would be after Morales’ deal is done and a theoretical EE deal expires. If he’s ready before that, sweet, you can easily trade Morales and his likely still affordable salary to a DH-needy team assuming he remains productive.
Good point.
Good signing, Pearce is a solid utility man, who has been through the wars in the East. New GM seems to be getting his feet wet first, Still think they get another outfield bat.
me too..they’re losing a lot of power
Yikes…. EE might be giving some weird looks at Paul Kinzer right now
True. It is now a possibility that a team like the Red Sox gets him at a “discount” price. If he really loved Toronto, he could regrets refusing the 4/80 offer they made.
Now the question becomes: Whats the discount price? 4/80 would have had him making 20/year through age 37, he could have outperformed that deal but he could also have found comfort in the longevity.
Kind of incredible that everyone around here is all “Oh noes, this means Edwin isn’t coming back!” …….
…… but nobody is saying the thing that’s actually true, which is that Pearce is replacing Bautista. It’s like the Blue Jays fan base has forgotten about him already.
That has more to do with the fact that Edwin. his agent and the Blue Jays front office have all stated there were ongoing discussions about a potential return to Toronto. There has been nothing about Jose and that usually means both sides are okay with the split. Fans can “forget” about a guy when the team isn’t going to re-sign him during the offseason while we are adding more talent.
Warren EE is NOT coming back. Get over it
Pearce should not be Smoak’s platoon partner, he should be the outright starter at 1st(barring another move or two). Smoak does have value as a defensive replacement and is valuable to this team due to his height, length and ability to scoop balls out of the dirt due to the relative wildness of JD, Tulo and Travis. Saying that, he isn’t worth his contract.
I love the Pearce signing and he plugs holes in the roster but he isn’t really good defensively at any one spot but I’m ok with that.
Pearce can stay in every day, play LF against righties, while Smoak plays 1B. Smoak has a career 105 OPS + against righties while Pearce has an 89 OPS+. He’s not as effective against them.
Against lefties, Smoak has an 88 OPS+ while Pearce is at 119. That’s where Smoak sits to start the game and replaces later in the game. Fill in Carrera at LF (or Upton or whoever the 4th OF is) when Pearce is at 1B and you’re all set.
Smoak has a bad batting average, but his career numbers against righties are decent enough to fill the 7-8 hole in the lineup and play solid defense at 1B in a platoon. Smoak is better against righties than Pearce, so there’s no need to take Smoak right out at the moment.
Over the last 3 seasons, Pearce has actually outhit Smoak vs RHP, posting wRC of 142, 107 and 118 against Smoak’s 78, 105 and 99. Couple that with Pearce’s better BB rate and much better K rate, their really isn’t a reason to platoon them unless, as you suggested, Pearce plays the OF vs RHP. But if he isn’t and is used exclusively at 1st, he must be played over Smoak everyday.
Now the Jays need to sign:
Top priority: Dexter Fowler
2. Couple of relief pitchers
3. Backup Catcher
EE = only if he agrees to Jays’ terms
Edwin is not getting 25M AAV. 20 maybe now. I think the Jays offer might be a little light but 90ish for 4 years seems about right now.
Jays aren’t getting EE or Fowler. Was listening on Toronto sports radio station and the Jays are up against in for their payroll. They still need to spend on the bullpen.
you may be right but this is where the Jays rotation comes into play. I can guarantee one of the 5 starters is not playing for this team. I’m sure Atkins is looking at his rotation and saying it’s good but I have happ and estrada who I can sell high and get a piece (bullpen or OF) for.
I LOVE how Pearce was trash when he was wearing black and orange and making scratch, but now that he’s signed with Toronto and getting $12M he’s the deal of the century.
Never change MLBTR commenters!
Unless they sign a major impact player for the OF the 2017 season has been officially surrendered. To have this tomato and Smoak, who has even less talent sharing an everyday position is the type of move teams that don’t care about winning do.
It’s hard to win in the AL east, but when you have, by a large margin, the worst 1B combo (two roster spots for a pair of bums) in the MLB… Ug, I’m disheartened and sickened. I didn’t need EE back, but I needed a FREAKIN EFFORT OUT OF ROGERS.
now that’s a HOT TAEK!!!!!
Good signing; also, great commentary.
Is the Rule5 draft next; any predictions:)? A lhp?
EE wanted too much money for a DH and part time first baseman. Smoak sucks but we are stuck with him. Why they signed him to an extension is beyond me. Nobody wants that bum so you can’t trade him. So Pearce is a good complement. Plays multiple positions and has a decent bat and glove. What we need now is Fowler and three bullpen arms. Plus a backup catcher preferably a left handed bat. Wouldn’t hurt to sign Revere too.
Move on from EE and trade for Miguel Cabrera. Tigers are rebuilding. Then sign Fowler. Trade Smoak and Upton for prospects. Or trade just Smoak.
Fowler RF
Donaldson 3B
Cabrera 1B
Morales DH
Tulowitski SS
Pearce LF
Martin C
Travis 2nd
Pillar CF
Starting Rotation:
Happ
Sanchez
Estrada
Liriano
Stroman
Go for it again this year. Prospects are only prospects and unproven.
Now Jays need to bring it on for.
1. Dexter Fowler
2 Jerry Blevins
3. Alex Avila ( or Navarro, as he’s familiar with the clubhouse)
I Don’t thing Edwin is a possibility now. If they can bring these guys in.
If Possible Edwin back, figure a way to get rid of Smoaky
Steve Pearce over the last 3 seasons: Averages 2.6 bWAR/season and 5.5 bWAR/162 games played. Over that span he’s averaged a .840 OPS and averaged roughly a .800 OPS vs. Righties and over a .900 OPS vs. Lefties (Therefore not a platoon bat). His UZR/150 at 1B, LF and RF are 8.8, 2.1, and -0.1 respectively (average to above average at these positions). Dexter fowler over the last 3 seasons: Averages 2.7 bWAR/season and 3.6 bWAR/162 games played. Over the last 3 seasons he has averaged a .788 OPS. Pearce will likely end up costing roughly 15-20% of Fowler over the course Fowler’s contract and 33% of Fowler’s contract annually. Is Fowler’s 0.1 bWAR per season advantage and substantial disadvantage in hitting and bWAR/150 really worth that much more?
I love how everyone is commenting about AA vs. Shatkins after this signing. First off, I like the signing for the Jays, they realized EE wasn’t coming back on their terms so they moved on, and spent less money in the process. They should give Fowler what he wants, they need him and i’m sure by now he knows that. Other things they need to do are shore up the pen and maybe another outfielder. As for the management issue, it’s quite obvious AA isn’t the Jays Gm because his philosophy was a cyclical process that saw the Jays stock their cupboards, then empty them to gain upgrades to the MLB roster, yes he made some bad calls, but i’m sure he traded Thor knowing he would be good eventually, and he traded for Price knowing he would probably walk, but he wasn’t worried because he was just going to stock up again then empty it all. Shatkins wants to build up and hold on to their prospects, that may work if they hit home runs with all of them, but personally I would rather sell potential for actual results every couple years rather than hold on to potential and realize it was all smoke and mirrors. Oh and bye bye EE, you will be missed!