SATURDAY: Via Heyman (on Twitter), Encarnacion will receive $150K if the Indians draw two million fans in any year of his contract, with additional bonuses of $150K for 2.15MM, 2.3MM, 2.5MM and 2.75MM fans. He will receive $250K for 3MM fans.
THURSDAY 11:15am: MLB.com’s Anthony Castrovince reports that Encarnacion will receive a $5MM signing bonus and earn $13MM in 2017 (Twitter link). He’ll then make $17MM in 2018 and $20MM in 2019 before the Indians have to determine whether to exercise his $20MM club option or pay him a $5MM buyout. Interestingly, FanRag’s Jon Heyman tweets that Encarnacion has a unique clause that allows him to earn up to $1MM worth of incentives per year based on the Indians’ attendance.
8:42am: Improbable as it might’ve seemed when the offseason began, the Indians have landed arguably the best bat on the free-agent market, announcing on Thursday the signing of longtime Blue Jays slugger Edwin Encarnacion to a three-year contract with a fourth-year option. The Rep 1 Baseball client will reportedly be guaranteed $60MM and can see his contract max out at $80MM if his $25MM club option ($5MM buyout) for the 2020 season is exercised.
[Related: Updated Cleveland Indians Depth Chart / Cleveland Indians Payroll Info]
Encarnacion, who turns 34 on Saturday, will give Cleveland a younger and more productive replacement for the departed Mike Napoli — bolstering the lineup of a club that is fresh off an American League pennant and hoping for another deep postseason run in 2017. The former Blue Jays star slashed .263/.357/.529 with 42 home runs and a league-leading 127 runs batted in this past season. Over the past five years, Encarnacion has been one of Major League Baseball’s most feared hitters, compiling a stellar .272/.367/.544 batting line with 193 homers — an average of 39 big flies per year. In that time, Encarnacion trails only Chris Davis in total home runs, and he’s also ranked third in the Majors in isolated power (.273), fifth in slugging percentage and sixth in OPS (.912) among qualified hitters.
Adding a bat as potent as the one wielded by Encarnacion will give the Indians a formidable lineup to complement an outstanding rotation. Encarnacion should slot into the heart of the order, where he’ll be surrounded by Jason Kipnis, Francisco Lindor, Carlos Santana and a hopefully healthier Michael Brantley in 2017. Young Jose Ramirez took a massive step forward in terms of offensive production in 2016, and Tyler Naquin emerged as an unexpected power threat to further deepen the lineup. Encarnacion has spent the bulk of his time at DH in recent years, but he’s rated as a passable option at first base when in the field. He should split time at both positions with Santana next year, and following the 2017 season he can become a full-time designated hitter once Santana hits the open market.
The circumstances that led to Encarnacion’s arrival in Cleveland were somewhat surprising; the 33-year-old entered the offseason as one of the two best bats on the open market (alongside Yoenis Cespedes), but multiple clubs that looked to be fits either pivoted early due to his asking price or never engaged with Encarnacion at all. The Yankees signed Matt Holliday just as the Winter Meetings kicked off, for instance, while the Astros seemingly moved on just prior to that by signing Carlos Beltran. The Red Sox reportedly never made much of a run at all, preferring a short-term option at first base/DH (which proved to be Mitch Moreland).
Encarnacion’s former team, the Blue Jays, seemed to be one of the best on-paper fits to retain his services. Toronto GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro reportedly made an offer of roughly $80MM over four years to Encarnacion back in early November, but Encarnacion and his agent felt it best to explore the market a bit more before making a decision on that offer. Unfortunately for them, the Jays changed course almost instantly, signing Kendrys Morales to a three-year $33MM deal on Nov. 11 and striking a two-year pact with Steve Pearce just under a month later. While the decision to reject that $80MM guarantee is easy to question in hindsight, Encarnacion can still reach that total in the end if his option is exercised.
In addition to Encarnacion’s age and defensive limitations, the biggest hindrance on his market may well have been the fact that he rejected a qualifying offer and is thus subject to draft pick compensation. The Indians entered the offseason with the 27th overall pick but saw that selection move up to 25th overall after the Cardinals signed Dexter Fowler and the Rockies signed Ian Desmond. Cleveland will part with that top pick in order to sign Encarnacion, while the Jays will receive a compensatory pick at the end of the first round.
Surrendering that pick was no small feat for Cleveland — a low-revenue team that can rarely engage in this type of free-agent expenditure and must instead rely on drafts and trades to build contenders. However, Cleveland’s window to win is unquestionable open right now; in the rotation, Corey Kluber, Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar are all controlled through the 2019 season — the final guaranteed year of Encarnacion’s deal. Kipnis, too, is controlled through 2019, while relief aces Andrew Miller and Cody Allen are controlled through 2018. That collection of well-compensated veterans is manageable for Cleveland with Santana coming off the books next season, while younger stars Lindor and Ramirez have yet to reach arbitration. Cleveland is also sitting on something of a World Series windfall following their Game 7 run in this year’s Fall Classic, making the immediate commitment a bit easier for the team to stomach.
Whether Encarnacion can push the team over the top and help bring Cleveland its first World Series title since 1948 remains to be seen, of course, but with Encarnacion added to an already excellent roster, the Indians figure to enter the 2017 as the consensus on-paper favorite to take home their second straight American League Central Division title.
Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports first reported the agreement between the two sides (Twitter links). Yahoo’s Jeff Passan reported the guarantee and the option (Twitter links). He also tweeted that Encarnacion did not receive an opt-out clause.
OMG
Yeah, I’m surprised as well.
I apologise to his agent who I said had blown it.
Why are you apologizing to his agent? He took 1 year less than what he was originally offered by his own team. If I was a Jays fan I would be pissed at this clown.
Jays didn’t wanna sign him period! They threw that offer out just to say we tried period!
Pissed at him for what? Why because he didn’t want to stay in Canada? I thought the A’s would land him but calling him a clown for exercising his right to choose where he plays is ridiculous.
Stating he didn’t want to stay in Canada is just an obvious attempt to be antagonistic. It was abundantly clear all along that Toronto was his preference and that he was heartbroken when he realized they had moved on from him.
lol
Ok skip they just threw 80 million out there which was more then anyone else offered to just say they tried and did not really want him. Ok. Whatever you say.
Well said
Why is it ridiculous? He wanted to stay in Toronto and listened to his agent who mis judged an aging players market. He should have jumped at the generous offer the Jays extended to him. Instead, he took less money and has to leave the team he wanted to play for. He will do great and will be good for the Indians though.
Besides, I like clowns.
Atkins and Shapiro you guys are useless
No they aren’t. Watch this to turn out like price last year
How are Shapiro and Atkins useless? They offered Edwin $15M more in guaranteed money to play for his desired team.
Bc he rushed out and filled out superstars spot with Morales and pearce
Exactly. Easy to notice that. But some people don’t see it
Well when you throw a monster offer out to your own free agent who says no you do not wait around. What you do is move on and sign others before they are gone as well.
Actually, in Cleveland, we agree with you.
Morales is 30 HR and 90 RBI in 2016. He will do better in Toronto , 33 Million versus 65 million. You pick. I agree that the 4/80 was a way to placate the Jays fans.
Shapiro has been very impressive so far.
How has Shapiro been impressive? He inherited AAs team. This is their first real opportunity to put a footprint on the team and they haven’t done anything to address their needs. If they are planning on a rebuild I’m fine with that, but they clearly laid down there offseason goal and haven’t addressed this plan.
Shapiro built the better team….in Cleveland. He was more constricted by payroll limitations than Anthopoulos was and he didn’t build an overrated, old, one trick, small window team. Blue Jays were the oldest team in the league with no farm.
Edwin turned down the better offer from the Jays to explore other options.
They were the oldest team, but that was partly from Shapiro adding 2 39-year-old relievers during the season and having a 42-year-old knuckleballer, not because their core was ancient. Their core was on the older side, but not past their prime.
The Jays’ window was also not that small. Arguably their window started in 2013, they just didn’t live up to their billing for a couple years. And although they’re on the downside of their window now, I wouldn’t say it’s closed yet either. There’s still a strong group of players, but more work needs to be done to fortify them.
Impressive ?????
Not so sure you know the meaning of that word !
wow
Hell ya
BOOM!!! Love it
YEAAAAAA!!!!
Good job by Cleveland
Excellent insight.
I agree with absolutely everything you said.
Guesses on salary? I say 70 mill over 3 years plus the option
can’t see it being more than 63 for 3 years.
The price was right
Wow. This sucks. -Blue Jays fan
This was the Move that needed to happen to open up the market. Watch more moves will follow.
– captain obvious
Why do you have to be a jerk?
-me
1
2
Stunned
Great signing for that team.
Hats off to Cleveland knowing that they are in a window of opportunity and went for it…. smart move guy.. BoSox fan
If it’s more then 2 years big mistake.
No it’s not. 3 years is a great deal for Eddie
Who the hell would only sign a two year contract when your the big fish in the lake?
OMG, did not see this coming, I truly saw him with Colorado or Houston
It would have created a lot of potential trades if he went to Houston.
Would’ve been nice to see him man 1B at the juice box. Oh well, as long as it’s not Reed I’m happy.
if reed is the starting 1b it means he is killing it, so why wouldnt you want him there?
Not only did Shapiro and Atkins lose to the Indians in the ALCS, they now their best hitter to them as well. Crazy!!!
I didn’t know Donaldson was going to Cleveland!
Crap… In my excitement I forgot him. Shame on me lol
Donaldson got better because Bautista and Encarnacion were bating behind him. Let’s see how it goes for him next season.
No that’s not why he was better.
Lol
Good bye Napoli
Awesome
Great signing by the Indians.
Double Wow!
Indians are serious!
3yr/$60M with option.
Good job Indians! From a Tiger fan.
I agree, From a yankee gal
Good sign knew the A’s was just a smoke screen for the fans.
Couldn’t have said it better!!
MLB ownership is hammering the A’s about their budget and screams of poverty about the stadium issue. Oaklands interest might have been legit….and it might have also been a open for business sign to some remaining free agents. But its still Oakland…they still have to sell that stadium surface to players.
I think the A’s made a good two year offer but were unwilling to go to three. That’s fair. From the looks of it they weren’t the only ones.
A’s reportedly offered a “Cespedes-like” deal, and Cespedes was offered 3-75. The rumor is now that they offered 2-50 with a mutual option 3rd year at 25m with a 5m buyout
And the opt out is where?
An opt out makes no sense for him…
Awesome move!
Holy crap
I honestly thought that was all just talk. Cleveland doesn’t usually make big moves like that.
And when he gets hurt and limps into retirement getting paid a ton $$$ for nothing we’ll all be reminded why they don’t.
-hater
Hater? I’m an Indians fan and know how these things usually work out for them when they overspend their budget and then get handcuffed by contracts. See Hafner, whose deal at that time forced them to lose many good pieces they couldn’t afford to keep and couldn’t move Hafner and his contract. See Swisher and Bourne, two other reaches in free agency that reminded them why they don’t usually spend on guys like this. No matter how much we hope he’s the obvious piece they’re missing, Murphy’s Law and years of snatching defeat from the jaws of victory says EE will not live up to this deal.
If that did happen, the Indian’s total would only be 65 mil… that seems to be a big time bat on the cheap.
they likely made a bunch of money from their post season and ultimately world series appearance. I imagine at least part of that income is going to this signing. Its really nice to see a team reinvest it. Hopefully they can stay healthy next year, they are a fun team.
Blue Jays should learn from this mistake!
This wasn’t a mistake. They offered the guy one of the biggest contracts in franchise history and he rejected it even though he supposedly really really wanted to stay. The Blue Jays offer ended having more guaranteed money than this one. I think maybe a certain agent should learn from his mistake.
wow, that is a steal. Dude is a monster.
I was holding out hope that he would go back to the Jays
Cubs at 27 and 29, for now. Two to go.
What are you talking about?
Maybe he is playing some sort of MLB bingo
draft picks lol
Seems like a great deal. Not too long or expensive. That team should be scarier next year with EE, Brantley, Salazar, and Carrasco
yes!!!!!!!
Mark Trumbo’s phone just started ringing….Colorado and Texas…and I bet Oakland now.
I have a personal theory that if the Rockies can’t land a FA they’ll try that deal with the White Sox for Jose Abreau.
They would have to give them their future for abreau which would defeat the purpose
They’ve reportedly worked the phones pretty hard on the trade front. Quite a bit of their future is in Colorado now…Rodgers is still down. Im not saying they go for Abreau…but but they’ll try to probably try and land a front line starter. Should they get Trumbo….I think they deal work for another starter…they’re gonna be sneaky good in 2017
I have a feeling people think Abreu is a lot better than he actually is.
I like his bat speed at Coors….deep alleys…it help his power and he’d bang doubles out like crazy. Im not really sure whats left to prove…last season was a bit down..theres a chance he hits a bit like Arenado at elevation…up over .300 35hr….thats not far off whats in the bat in Chicago. Yeah…I suppose theres a chance he gets soft and turns into this .250 25hr guy….but the Rockies are about to run Ian Desmond out to first. In Coors its not just the HR power I’d like…its the Andres Gallaraga like doubles slash power.
A’s wont pursue Trumbo I bet. Big flyball guy, low OBP, and our park isn’t kind to those types unless they seriously mash (ie Khris Davis)
I’d much rather pursue Rajai Davis or Ben Revere. Or screw it, both of em
Good, the boring speculation can end. I assume we will get 50 Bautista threads a day.
Still better than zero…
Way to go E.E. definitely a lot easier to hit in Cleveland than Oakland. Good choice.
So how much did his dumb parrot get??
A cracker.
Still won’t beat the Cubbies with that power in “17” Going to need a lot more than that to compete with Cubs.
Please stop
They will also get back Salazar and Carrassco. It’s not like the Cubs barely won in seven games
Brantley?
Let’s see if brantley can come back the same and stay healthy for any period of time. Shoulders are fickle.
Watch the Cubs blow the 3-1 lead to the Indians in 17′! Poetic justice
Said it last year, will say it again, if the cubs aren’t winning the ws, i’d like to see it be the indians. They are a fun team, and I don’t know how anyone could help but love Lindor
I agree, it wouldn’t have hurt so much to lose to that team if the Cubs did, but if they make it back this year I will be cheering them hard. If the Cubs are already out of course.
Cubbies 68, go away. Indians fans complaining about injuries, just stop. Happens to everyone. Don’t hear me complaining about ’04 when Prior and Wood got hurt. Part of the game.
I wasn’t complaining about injuries nor am I an Indians fan, just pointing out that the gap between the two teams isn’t that great
They competed with Cubs last year without Brantley and EE. Also didn’t have Carrasco or Salazar. I think the Cubs and Cleveland are the top two teams again
When two teams makes it a game 7, it’s hard to say they are far apart when it comes down to which team is better.
a 7 game sample size isn’t exactly a great deal of data to create any meaningful determinations from.
Yeah but a 3-1 lead after 4 games says Cleveland wasn’t that far off. Brantley, Carrasco, Salazar, healthy Bauer, healthy Yan Gomes was certainly enough of a difference it doesn’t go extras in 7 games.
-Napoli
Encarnacion, Salazar, Carrasco, Maybe Brantley?
And it went to game seven last year. It’s gotta be pretty close between the two teams.
……and hopefully having someone (anyone) to send to the plate in the final inning besides Michael Martinez. 🙂
Yeah
Napoli back to Texas, I guess.
That’s what I guessing as well.
So he turned down a guaranteed $80/4yr contract for $60/3yr. Wow
I think Jays threw that offer out knowing he wouldn’t sign so fast and took it off the table to say we tried!
Your probably right. I’m kinda glad the Jays didn’t sign him I don’t think he is worth the $80 mil anyways. I’d rather have a guy that gets on base every game.
Time will tell right? As big as these contracts are getting lately I don’t think it’s that bad as long as he has good protection the will rack in Cleveland!!
He** rake**
> I think Jays threw that offer out knowing he wouldn’t sign
Absurd. It was $80M — it was a coin flip, him taking it or not.
Taxes in Toronto/Canada are a helluva lot more than in Cleveland/US, so he’ll take more home per year.
Given a $20M USD salary…
Ontario take home pay = $9,321,082
Ohio take home pay = $10,575,057
So he would be giving up about 13% in taxes and other deductions.
Texas has no state income tax…if we’re talking just cash value.
Where did you get those numbers? He should pull more than that in Cleveland based on the tax brackets.
1.2 million difference….that has to mean something even to A multimillionaire
Now that EE is off the market, what does Carter go for? 5 million? Too much? Too little?
Not a bad guess he was set to earn 8 million in arbitration I think he’ll get something close to that
Napoli came come back to Texas
LOVE this deal! Was hoping he would go to the Indians all along. Should we start talking about a possible ’17 Tribe WS?
Don’t start talking about anything until at least July, if not October.
They’re gonna win the super bowl
I had my hopes on the Stanley Cup, myself…
Maybe… hope they win the stanley cup first.
Maximizing their window
Can’t wait to see the domino affect this has, I have wonder what is coming next and when it will happen
Oh my! How did we just do that?
Magic pixey dust and an 11th hour call from the Easter Bunny.
Cleveland Indians NBA champs
Go golden knights
Yes
You are a friend but your friend and your mama is great app fun and game play
K
I like it–and I’m a Yankee’s fan. Good signing, reasonable length, smart negotiating by the Indians. Good work. And EE’s not going to have to go on food stamps either.
I called it in the other article.
Fantastic job Tribe!! I was so burned out from the WS that I haven’t watched any sports at all. But now this just recharged my baseball batteries lol.
Remember how the Indians blew a 3-1 series lead? lol
Yea… It wasn’t that long ago.
Stay classy
Addisonstreet, stop gloating like a idiot. Or else just go away.
Cub fans should act like they’ve been there before. Oh wait never mind.
Remember your 108 year drought? Or perhaps you needed a guy who was accused of assault and shot bullets in his garage to close your games? Cause I definitely remember that. What I don’t remember is the amount of cubs fans that were proud to go out in public wearing their logo until now. “Lol”
More Cubs fans need to be like cubsfan2489
You know that this is how all of you act after your teams win the World Series so just stop complaining… my team hasn’t even ever been to the World Series.
Appreciate it. Just not into the whole bragging about them just winning it. I get it, they didn’t win for how long. But guess what? They finally did. It was awesome. But it’s already time to look ahead for me. I’m anxious to see how they do this coming season. It’ll be tough to repeat. Heck, it’ll tough to get through another season as healthy as they were. Definitely excited for baseball to start up again in two short months though!
Betts50, that’s not even close to reality. Cubs have had strong following for my entire life and fans were widely criticized for supporting a losing team and supposedly not caring about baseball. Now people are saying it’s all bandwagon fans. Get a clue
I don’t like people dissing the Indians about the World Series, it was epic and the Indians deserving of so much credit for getting there with their injuries. Still, obnoxious amounts of people wore their Cubs gear in the 90s and do you know how many times they even made the playoffs in the 90s?
Right there with you, can’t wait for the season to start.
Not just cubs fans. Everyone.
Kind of like how People remember the Cubbies blowing a series and blaming it on some poor fan that did exactly what any other fan would do reaching for a foul ball. If Cleveland doesn’t blow this series people would continue to vilify some poor guy when it was the team that blew a series.
Nice move by the Indians. They could very well be the team to beat in the AL this year.
Nah
I second your “nah.”
Try beating Texas this year
Yeah they’ll blow a 3-1 series to the RedSox only if somebody with ties to their organization somehow leaks info that one of their pitchers used PEDs….
So like in ’07? 😛
In all reality, this makes Cleveland pretty lethal. Personally I love that last year’s division champs in the American League all looked locked in as “favorites” to start the season. Most of the remaining AL teams are trying to compete and some are very intriguing, it will be fun to watch this season unfold. Personally can’t wait to see what Houston does this season, would love to see them unseat Texas as division champs.
Texas and Boston might have something to say about that….hard to argue though if the pitching stays healthy
Hard to argue against***
Tea at Edwins
At least he didn’t go to the Rangers. I also predict his signing will uplift the city of Cleveland so much that the Browns will pull off an upset this weekend. You heard it here first, and go place your bets.
I’m also glad he didn’t go to the Rangers. Don’t get me wrong, he’s a great player. The Rangers would have just been handcuffed at the end of this season when they have some great players set to hit free agency.
You know why an Astros fan says that though. I really hope we can split the season series this year at least. Last year was brutal for the “rivalry.”
Rivalry? More like massacre.
I think we’ll be better this year.
Lolll what a bad news for Shapiro and the Jays front office. They mismanaged the entire offseason while their former team is making key moves to win now (Miller trade and EE for cheap). For basically the price of Pearce and Morales, they could’ve kept EE and have a much better hitter.
> For basically the price of Pearce and Morales, they could’ve kept EE
You are bad at math.
11 6 = 17M. I rather have EE at 20M.
> 11 + 6 = 17M. I rather have EE at 20M.
In your “math,” does Edwin play two positions at the same time?
Not to mention Smoak’s salary.
The Jays need more than a guy who only hits HRs. Morales Pearce are just the beginning of a new Jays team. No more grip it rip it style they need to get hits and score some runs to help out there pitching staff
I’m sure you said the same thing about Price and Happ/Estrada last year. Wonder how that turned out
That’s my point they need a different game plan besides hitting HRs
I am a pissed jays fan
So EE plays first full-time? Or does he split time there with Santana? Either way, heck of a deal.
They’ll have EE mainly at 1B and Santana DH then flip them a couple times a week.
it’s a great move for Cleveland. You saw how having Napoli in the middle of the order just made the whole lineup fit so well, and now you have an even better hitter in EE in the middle. It’s exactly what they needed most.
Great signing Cleveland.
So are they planning on him being the everyday 1B or what? Because if not what are they going to do with C. Santana? Real question here. I’m not being satire
Split time at DH first year, evaluate after 2017 again.
Party at Encarnacion’s?
fiesta at edwins
Great move.
The Indians just went from a Cinderella team that caught a few breaks and had a nice run to a legit contender for the next few years.
The Rangers and Red Sox might regret not finding a way to get this done.
Napoli to Texas seems like a good fit. Trumbo back to the O’s or the Rockies, maybe.
Boston no lo firms porq David Lee dijo a pedro uno mas y esa bomba ya mismo bas a estallar para Los Boston fan
Boston no lo firms porq David Le dijo a pedro uno mas y esa bomba ya mismo bas a estallar para Los Boston fan
At that price, i cant complain. Good signing indians.
Must suck for fans of his in Toronto.
Now all the Indians have to do is resign rajai Davis and they’d be done and have had a great offseason
I am just so happy he didn’t sign with the A’s
It was a joy to watch Edwin since 2010 for me. I still rememember in 2011 I and other Bluejays fans were shouting at the screen, “send EE to the minors!” Strikeout, errors at third base.. But then he worked with Cano’s batting coach in the DR that offseason and has been a premier power hitter ever since. One of the key changes was keeping both hands on the follow through when swinging and playing primarily 1b/dh…. I know in 2013/2014 his back flared up a few and missed some time… The Indians will have to monitor how much he plays the field..
I’ve watched him on facebook last couple offseasons.. He posts a lot of his workouts and stays busy with conditioning. He doesnt speak english very good, but hes a quiet, respectful player thats a good role model for a team. Never in any trouble or controversy.
The Jays didnt want to wait around and miss out on morales if EE signed elsewhere.. I understand why management did what they did and mostly agree. He rejected an 80+mill offer from us, so be it.
Sad to see him go, and at a decent price. A lot of Toronto fans going to miss you.. Maybe that talk of EE getting his name on his own section in Rogers Centre may come true in due time. Nice pick-up for the Indians.
Agree with everything except the two hands on the follow through. Most times he has no hands on the follow through. He had to of lead he league in fans hit by bats. When he loses a bat he sends that bat deep into the stands and if happens often. Luckily there aren’t as many fans to pick off in Cleveland….sorry my jealous rant as a Jays fan.
Hey, Cleveland fans, congrats; this is a nice signing for you. We’ll miss Edwin in Toronto but we had his best years at a bargain so we can’t complain (though many, many, many will).
This is a very good post showing how well Edwin fits into the Cleveland lineup and his contract into their timeline for contending.
Now let’s watch the dominos fall.
I wonder how much his numbers drop. He’s not playing in the hitters ballparks of the AL East (Fenway, Yankee Stadium, Rogers Centre). The Indian’s line up isn’t as stacked as the Blue Jay’s was. If you notice all of these guys who put up gaudy numbers last year played in the AL East (Big Papi, Chris Davis, EE). Plus he has to deal with the Midwest cold at the end of the season. The ball doesn’t fly the same.
Considering i) CLE was 3rd in MLB in scoring (TOR was 9th), ii) Progressive was 3rd in runs (Rogers was 6th) and iii) 5th in home runs (Rogers 17th), I’m not sure too many people share your “wondering”.
The Jays offence was considered bad even though they score 750 runs. However there is more to give AL east then just the Jays. Tampa is the only pitchers park. Edwin’s numbers would fall if he was normal. Fortunately for him most of his hr’s were gone in almost every park.
Good move for the Tribe. They look like the biggest lock of any team right now to win their division.
Merry Christmas Tito.
This is a great move for the Indians, I think EE puts them as the team to beat in the AL next year. If Brantley returns to form they could be very dangerous. This is a team with 2 starters out for the world series, and now they have Miller for the whole year, wow.
Let’s see here: Shapiro and Atkins give EE an offer hours before free agency with a take it or leave demand fully knowing he would decline. Then they sign a DH only player immediately after he declines. It’s apparent that they didn’t want the player back. They wanted the draft pick for him and Bautista because they are, in their screwed up way, starting to dismantle the team while giving the fans the illusion of competing. Blue Jays were first in attendance, have the Majors richest owners in Rogers Communications, are in the top five in highest tickets and concession products, first in television viewer ratings for games on Sportsnet, owned by Rogers Communications, made an additional $45M in revenues from the playoffs this year and what have they done this post season: made the team less competitive and much less likely to reach the post season. Morales or EE on a 3 year deal? I am taking EE every day. Don’t let anyone tell you it is about the money. That is all BS. They want to change this team into small market product like Cleveland. Except they are not a small market and it took Cleveland around 10 years to make the playoffs doing it their way.
@Frank Waller
Brianless conspiracy nonsense.
The Jays offered $157.2M in contracts to EE plus Fowler and Bautista. Leaving out those facts destroys your argument, so I see why you did it.
The only thing brainless is your reply. We know as fact the 4 year $80M offer to EE and a qualifying offer to Bautista that they knew he would turn down. There is rumor, not a fact that they sniffed around Fowler. No one knows if they ever offered Fowler a contract since it hasn’t been confirmed by the club or Fowlers agent like the EE offer was. So by my count, they offered a QO to Bautista they knew he would turn down and a 4 year $80M offer to EE they knew he would turn down. Where are your facts again?
I agree they knew what they were doing offering EE a 4yr contract early on -save face with the fans but do you really think that would’ve been a good signing for the Jays? To run out the same team that couldn’t get past the alsc series again. EE and Jose are only good for HRs the Jays need hits and guys on base every game. Hopefully that’s managements new strategy
Bautista has a career OBP of .368. Encarnacion .352. They have very good OBP.
The Indians have been doing it this way since… really nearly my entire life. That said, technically, if you count the Wild Card games as the playoffs, they made it to the playoffs three years ago in 2013, so it hasn’t been a decade. They really haven’t had a sustained losing period since that 30+ years of misery began in the 60’s, ending in the 90’s, so it’s not a terrible model to follow. I don’t mean to bash the Jays, at all, I’ve always been a fan of them, but, its true that there was a ten year gap between the Indians making it to a full-on playoff SERIES, but the Jays had a twenty-two year gap. I think you could do worse than modeling your organization after the Indians even if your team has Yankee money.
Wonder what Bautista will do? He’s kinda like the Dwight Howard of baseball. He looks intimidating and can be, but most of the time whines like a baby.
Excellent analogy.
Don’t you mean it can max out at 85? With 65 guaranteed?
That^^
I think that only 60 mil. is guaranteed, with five of that being the buy-out for declining the fourth year. The fourth year would cost 25 mil. The report has changed three times, but the second report had it at 65 mil guaranteed and the third says 60, so I’m assuming the 5 mil buy-out is included in that 60 from the third repord. But, I have no idea, so someone correct me if I’m wrong.
They got him cheap, with so many interested parties I thought he would get the 4th year promised.
But he’ll certainly decline as well.
Good for the Indians here.
I still call him E5
Jays can go after JD Martinez if they want.
Not sure if Detroit will sell him or not. Before this deal, they kept JD’s trade value high. Maybe they will be more willing to deal now that the Indians are better.
Math check. 60 25=85 max out.
Damn, Nice move. They fill a huge need and get the right amount of years before he falls off the cliff and the White Sox are ready to compete. They own this division the next two seasons. Interesting to see if this pushes Houston to go after Quintana to keep up.
Cleveland and Boston are clear favorites in the AL at this moment.
Astros don’t make moves just to make moves. Everything is calculated and has to make sense. Quintana isn’t good enough to swap for our stud prospects
Your credibility just took a huge hit. He becomes their clear #1 or #2 if Keuchel rebounds. He is a top 15 pitcher for sure and is guaranteed to give 200 innings + with a great era and league lead in quality starts. Your Prospects are not that amazing to say no to that.
Quintana is only an ace in the mind of Sox fans and your GM. If anyone else in baseball thought highly of him, he’d already have been traded. Nice try knocking someone else for having an opinion though.
In what world is Quintana not an ace. He was legitimately more steady than Sale over the last few years imo
This one, and no GM in MLB agrees with your statement, obviously.
You do realize that most trades don’t happen overnight, right? Just because a deal hasn’t gotten done by December doesn’t mean one won’t happen…
His career ERA is 3.41 and it’s never been higher than 3.76. He’s probably a top 15 pitcher in the game.
Soooo youre saying sale isnt an ace because he wasnt traded when made available last year? Look at his numbers people think hes an ace, and cheap. It just will rightfully cost a boat load for him.
I think the Astros should go for Napoli on a 2 year deal. Let Reed and White marinate in AAA. Quintana costs too much in terms of prospects. Sign Hammel and go with that.
I don’t think Napoli is a good fit unfortunately. Gurriel will most likely spend a decent amount of time at 1B this year, possibly even McCann when Gattis catches. While Napoli offers some good pop, he strikes out a ton and isn’t that great at getting on base. The Astros off season was all about getting rid of those guys, so it wouldn’t make sense to sign one with a different name.
I don’t think Napoli makes sense at all for the Astros. He’s not a major upgrade over what we have, but he’d certainly block our young guys.
Block who? Reed? White?? LOL
Tribe needs to upgrade cf defense. Don’t need offense , but an above average glove in center would help .
Michael Brantley?
Blue Jays fans: Expect Bautista to sign in Oakland and the Shapiro/Atkins Dream Team to sign Chris Carter to 1 year/$7.5m as your replacement for EE and Joey Bats. Plus ticket prices will rise by 10% just because.
We saw that crap in CLE for WAY too long…
> Shapiro/Atkins Dream Team to sign Chris Carter to 1 year/$7.5m
No. Where would Carter play? Jays have Morales at DH and Pearce/Smoak at 1B.
Well it worked last year with happ/Estrada instead of price so I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt
Great signing for the Indians…..now…EE is getting older but he should ……as a floor…. (Based on a slight decline) produce a
.240-.250 25-30hr 85-100 rbi line
With a really good rotation and bullpen…..Brantley returning to health….Cleveland will be a dangerous team…..Kudos to the front office…..
Just wanted to thank Mike Napoli for great season. Nap showed the Dolan’s what a clean up hitter means. Thanks Dolan’s for taking a chance on EE. I’m buying a ticket package tomorrow. Good luck Nap.
Great signing by a team that clearly wants to win it all and making the moves to be even better than last season, where they were in Game 7 of the World Series!
And lost lol
I called this one. Great pick up for this team.
Finally! Now Bautista., Trumbo, Carter, Napoli, can sign one after another.
Boy! If you watch the MLB channel, you should have seen this coming.
SO, now we can guess:
Bautista:
Trumbo:
Carter:
Napoli:
Make your picks!
Aw c’mon
Bautista goes back to the Jays.
Trumbo stays put with the Orioles.
Carter I have no idea at all honestly. I can’t even make a guess. Maybe the A’s?
Napoli back to the Rangers.
Those are my guesses. I was right with the EE so let’s so let’s see if I can get anything else right.
Bautista-Toronto
Trumbo-Colorado
Napoli-Texas
Carter-Japan
Bautista Rays, Trumbo Rockies, Napoli Rangers, Carter A’s
I think Carter goes to Oakland or Tampa
I could see Carter being the signing the Rockies make after failing to land trumbo/Napoli etc
Good signing for Cleveland. Ironic that he signed for same as Toronto offered him,. Makes Cleveland better on paper.
I think this is the type of signing you can say more than “better on paper.” Encarnacion is one of the best hitters of the last 5 years. The gap between him and Napoli is giant.
true but anything can happen during the season and usually does.
I called him going to the Indians. I think everyone could tell the Jays wanted to make a deal quick and when he wanted to test the market they lived on right away making it hard for him to go back. Great pick up for the Indians. I really hope they continue their success next year. I wonder if Napoli is a goner now. What do you guys think? You think he goes back to the Rangers? Or stays put? I wonder if the Mets trade Jay Bruce and if they do will that affect any of the free agent market? I wish things would start picking already.
*picking up already
What, so they can blow another 3-1 lead in the playoffs? Only this time in the ALCS to Boston?
The real story is how in the h@ll they ever made the playoffs without their best hitter, and then to the world series without that hitter and without their 2nd and 3rd starters, then that they won 3 of first 4 vs the Cubs without said hitter and now having only 2.5 starters….
So now they add back their best hitter, an All-Star and anchor of the OF (could’ve used him in games 6 & 7) in Brantley, add an even better hitter in EE, and TWO Cy Young candidates in the rotation…
Keep enjoying your little “they blew a 3-1″… The Indians (nor anyone outside of Chicago) don’t see it that way, and here they come.
The post season is a crapshoot, doesn’t matter who they add, odds are they won’t make the WS again.
If they go into the postseason with those guys healthy, EE and Miller, look out. I wouldn’t want my team to face that.
The Guy a Juicier , the Jays knew it and that’s the Reason they didn’t go hard after him . Same for Big Papa , Baseball Executives again care nothing about integrity of Game , all they really care about how much money they can make off these player without drawing too much Bad Publicity , Encarnacion , Batista are all going to come up hot in the next couple of years when Fed ‘s incept the nullifying Drugs that these cheaters and fakes are taking and have been taking over the Last few Years.
Ruth Didn’t Play against the Best of his era and Arron played in High School Band Box his last 7 Years , but at least they weren’t injecting a Foreign substance in their Bodies .
Jim Bunting said it Years ago and Ryan Sandberg repeated it later, You don’t get Better as you age , Never in ant athletic Sport.
only part of that writing that made sense was that you called edwin a juicer. And i don’t believe he’s failed a test, so tough to say he takes steroids
Actually, he called him juicier, not a juicer. Juicier than what? I have no idea. I’d be interested in hearing William’s opinion though.
Lol you took the words out of my mouth Priggs. I was wondering when someone would say something about Juicier haha
Seriously though. This guys doesn’t Juice. If he does he doesn’t get caught so I’m not sure why he’s being accused of it. Someone must be mad their team didn’t get this beast of a hitter lol.
1) Encarnacion has never been linked to “juicing”
2) Of course you get better as you age… until you peak and start trailing off. That’s the curve; and peaking at 28/29 is pretty much the norm.
3) He’s been one of the games best hitters over the last FIVE years.
4) The Jays WERE “going hard after him.”
I love it when you call me Big Papa.
Well played Cleveland, well played. Now I’m even happier the Sox chose the rebuild route.
One article showed an overlay of his homerun balls at progressive and it appears he lost very few. Besides he hit a ton in other ballparks so there shouldn’t be much of an issue.
Great signing by Cleveland
The agent sure screwed up Edwin.
Misread the market. Edwin wanted to be back in Toronto. Now he has to play in a city he didnt want to be in.
Oh well.. totally the agents fault.
You do realize that the agent doesn’t make the final decision, right? If Edwin wanted to stay in Toronto that badly, he would’ve happily accepted the original offer instead of holding out for more money. Even if the agent made the mistake of telling Edwin he could get more on the open market, nobody forced him to test the market.
I know I would hate to play for a World Series contender.
Great move by the Tribe. They needed Edwin’s thunder in this lineup and with Brantley coming back it’s like getting 2 big bats in the off season. Edwin will also be a great vet clubhouse presence for Tito.
I have a confession to make to everybody on this site ! when I was in College Years ago , I took Peds, I went from a 260 Ba seven hrs guy , to a 300 , 15 plus Guy in a season , Unfortunately ,I broke my leg in the outfield and was never really the Same ,I was cut from my college baseball team in my Senior Year. .
This story is most likely 100% bs, but I’ll bite. Do you want us to feel bad for you that you “unfortunately” broke your leg and were cut from your team? Unless you’re a different William, you literally just posted about baseball executives not caring about the “integrity of the game” and only caring about making money. Seems a bit hypocritical coming from somebody that supposedly took PEDs to go from a below average college hitter to a decent one.
College? You didn’t major in English, that’s for sure.
His hrs and rbi totals are gonna suffer at home. Jacobs Field is not a hitters park like the Rodgers Centre is. He had 41 hrs for 2016. He’ll be lucky to get 25 this year. They don’t have much of a team outside of lindor kipnis and Santana. Russell Martin’s twin Roberto Perez is average. Jose Ramirez has the hands of aramis Ramirez. Michael Brantley can’t stay healthy. Outside of Kluber. Their rotation is average.
From an average Blue Jays fans…
I’m cubs fan dude. Can’t stand the blue jays. It would be nice to have kept Donaldson in their farm system. Rich Harden didn’t exactly pan out. Would have been nice if they didn’t trade archer for Garza. Garza had 2 good years. They gave up 5 players for 1. Including Brandon Guyer.
Roberto Perez is average, that is why he is the backup catcher. Tan Gomes is a good bat when healthy, hopefully he rebounds this season. Salazar and Carrasco are not very average, Tomlin is a good 5th and Bauer can be lights out at times and terrible at others. Very good rotation, not average, and they have them all locked up cheaper than one frontline starter, there’s a reason why so many teams have called trying to trade for their pitchers.
It’s almost like you know nothing about the team but desperately wanted to complain about something so just threw out gibberish
Their stadium has a 112 hitting Park Factor over the last couple seasons
Ramirez hit 312/363/432 last year. Lindor has hit 306/356/456 over his career. Chisenhall is probably their worst regular in the lineup, and he generally floats around average. As Polish told you, Perez is the Backup Catcher
Meanwhile their starting rotation allowed 4.20 R/G last season (2nd lowest to Tor) and overall their pitching staff sported a 3.84 ERA (again 2nd lowest to Tor). Individually Kluber had a 149 ERA+, Carrasco was at 141, Salazar was 121, Bauer 110 and Tomlin was 106 – so much for your 1 above average starter theory
I’ll take Kris Bryant and Addison Russell over Ramirez and lindor. If lindor could play cf I’d put him there. Look at the Puerto Rico team. Their infield is stacked. Correra to Lindor to Baez all day in the WBC. and their best friends too..3rd SS and 2nd..
Good for you, what the hell do the Flubbies batters have to do with this discussion anyway? Linder is a premier SS, no reason to even contemplate putting him in CF.
This conversation started because you didn’t know what you were talking about – you can probably guess how much weight your opinion on conversations not even being had holds
He hits a lot of tape measure home runs that are gone in any ballpark. His numbers shouldn’t suffer that much
You are funny. Indians rotation is average .
More than two dozen other MLB teams wish their rotation was that ‘average’.
There’s no guarantee Salazar goes back to form. Tomlin got extremely lucky game 3. He got rocked game 6.
Lucky when he does well but rocked when he doesn’t? OK. He’s their fifth starter and did well in his role. Injuries thrust him into the second starter role instead of long relief where he would normally end up in the playoffs.
Tomlin went 9-2 with a 3.51 ERA before his dad’s surgery, then 2-1 with a 1.69 ERA in 4 Sept starts after his dad’s situation was cleared up …but he was merely “lucky” in game 3?
Seriously man, when you clearly have absolutely no idea what you are talking about its better just not to talk at all. It’s sound advice that should help you out in the future
Some writer overlayed his homeruns to progressive field. He looks fine. I’ll see if I can find the link and post it.
“Russell Martin’s twin Roberto Perez is average.” Good thing then that they have another Blue Jay castoff in Yan Gomes, a gift from the “ninja” “AA.”
It was always the perfect fit but I didn’t think Cleveland would pay. Guess that post season revenue is getting put to good use.
This is the type of player the Indians haven’t had in a long, long time. I love the willingness to take a risk especially with the failure of the last two, and hopefully the fans show appreciation by turning out.
Good pickup for the tribe
Great pickup by the tribe. With Salazar and Carrasco back on the mound, EE hitting 35-40 HRs and Tito calling the shots, Cleveland is in great shape. Toronto? Frustrating franchise. If the Jays plan A was to resign EE, they moved off that plan awfully quickly.
Don’t forget likely having a healthy Brantley and Gomez back too
Can’t believe how well the club actually did with 2 of their best starters and 2 of their best hitters all missing for their Post Season run. Replace the inconsistent and pretty one-dimensional Napoli with EE and the Tribe becomes a scary club to face
They acted quickly so they wouldn’t “lose out” on the great Morales. Lolz.
The best part of the entire Encarnacion free agency was reading the Cardinals, sheeple fan’s comments online locally. This enormous group of gullible stooges actually thought the Cardinals had a chance at Encarnacion.
If Brantley somehow gets back to form, the lineup becomes very good. There are only a few teams that would have as good a middle six (Kipnis, Lindor, EE, Brantley, Santana, Ramirez). That is some serious firepower, not just power, but good hitting. Now if Gomes can hit above .200, Tribe will be tough to beat. Great time to be a Tribe fan!
As a long time Jays fan, I will miss EE. His tape measure shots in Rogers centre are something to behold. The Jays didn’t want him at that price or they would have signed him. Jays have deep pockets, much deeper than the Indians. I wonder what the Jays will do next. They need a right handed power bat who can play good defense in the field, they need 2-3 bullpen pieces and they need a top of the rotation starter. I don’t think the starting rotation will be what it was last year.
“The Jays didn’t want him at that price or they would have signed him.” lolwut? Those grapes must taste sour. Jays are pretenders and they always will be.
EE at Cleveland Ball Park in his career. 22 games. 98 PA. 2 HR. .766 OPS
How many of those very, very few PA came against guys like Kubler, Carrasco, Salazar, the dominating pen, etc?
Break down all of his HR since 2009 and overlays them to Progressive field
https://twitter.com/darenw/status/812128916966178816/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Good for Edwin. The Jays were underpaying him for years relative to what other guys were getting.
He had to see what was out there but the agent did dodge a bullet with the Indians deal. 3/$60 with an option is pretty good coming from $10m a year.
Sure, Edwin outplayed his contract with the Jays but that contract wasn’t without some risk. Edwin was basically a throw-in as part of the Scott Role trade. Edwin was put through waivers twice with the Jays and was picked up by the Athletics before being let go and resigning with the Jays. The contact was a calculated risk that gave Edwin security and definitely worked out for the Jays.
The Jays reportantley had an option for a 5th year in their initial offer that would have brought the contract value to 100 million. Edwin’s agent absolutely messed up here.
I don’t blame the Jays for moving on here. It’s easy to say after the fact that they should have waited longer to see what his market was going to be. I just wish the Jays would have went after fowler harder.
The Jays were underpaying him? That’s some weird phrasing. His contract was what it was. Should they have restructured his deal to give him more money out of the goodness of their hearts?
Saying all of that…the Jays are boobs. They lost 80 hrs between Edwin, Bautista and Saunders and have only brought in about 20-30. They have allot of work to do because 4th place in that division is easy to come by.
As a Yankees fan, good bye EE. We won’t miss you in the ALE.
I thought the Indians were holding DH open for Michael Brantley. He will likely field, hit and run but, because of the type of injury he had, he may not be able to throw well enough to be effective in the field.
The Indians window is now. Although unlikely, I would like to see the Indians pick up SP Jose Quintana.
Because the OF was and is weak defensively and because they are losing Rajal Davis’ speed, I believe the Indians need more speed in CF like Manuel Margot , Keon Broxton or Byron Buxton type of player(s). I understand that these players are not available… Perhaps Delino DeShields would be available,
No way they go after Quintana nor will they chase one of those OF bats you mention. They’ll make do with Brantley, Almonte and Naquin covering LF and CF and Chisenhall in RF with Ramirez and the utility guy filling in.
I realize the Indians will not ever go after anyone I listed above… nor will any GM be influenced by any of us. I was merely pondering what I thought the Indians need to make a better team. Quintana would cost too much and a “DeShields-Type” player may not be what they seek. Still, wouldn’t it be a great pitching staff if Quintana was added to it?
Yeah and Scherzer too, just isn’t going to happen. They have bigger needs to address than reworking one of the strengths of their team (rotation).
People are overreacting to a signing that’s not going to have the expected impact. They’re basically replacing Napoli’s numbers and maybe just a bit more, as EE is just a DH at an age where even in that role, we’ll see some decline as well as some DL stints.
At 34, you would expect a full 4 or 5 yr deal, but GM’s knew the risk. Cleveland is a good team but they’re not any better with EE.
Better numbers than Napoli/and also won’t fall off come September. Napoli really struggled when they needed him at the end of the year and playoffs.
If loading up on goons makes a difference in wins, the Tigers would have won the division the past eight years. The Indians scored plenty of runs in ’16, and even considering Napoli’s lack of production in September, EE and hitters like him make little difference unless a team is having problems scoring runs, which is not the case. I’m far more concerned about a bunch of sore armed SP resulting from poor coaching and mechanics. The only significant benefit of EE over existing options is putting more asses in the seats, which they sorely need, so only in that regard, it may be a good move
239/335/465, 104 OPS+
263/357/529, 133 OPS+
…Yeah, I see what you mean – practically identical twins!
*sigh*
I also assumed you can read English and understand the meaning of “a bit more”, but *sigh*, it seems I was wrong.
Grapes = sour.
I don’t think there are any grape vineyards in Berea.
Good job for Indians man. I remember before last season started and even at the end of it in reference to edwin especially. Writers and fans alike were thinking we would be looking at massive contracts for ee and Bautista. I remember before last season Bautista was gunna get a 4 year 110 million dollar contract and ee was gunna get 5 and 125. Now seeing what they are going to sign for is amazing. Edwin encarnacion has been one of the most feared hitters in the al east for years and is comin off a 42 home run season, he hits on big spots. And he went for 3 years at 60 million?! That’s awesome for the tribe!
You look ugly on that Uni. Blue did suit you better and you were getting one more yr in guaranteed money !!!
That’s what happens when you get greedy
Looking forward for my Jays starting staff kicking you but come a reunion at the RC !
Lots of luck smart a**
Sour grapes…
This will the start of the decline in EE’s career.
Love the guy but it’ll be more difficult for him in Cleveland.
.250/27hr/73 rbi my prediction
Party at Edwins!
As a Red Sox fan I feel like the Red Sox are going to regret not going after this guy, this is the guy that could’ve replaced Ortiz. If he has a similar or better season like he did in Toronto plus with the return of Salazar, Carrasco and Brantley also a great bullpen this Indians team could be really heavy world series favorites. I like the Sale move and that Thornburg move as well but with the departure of Ortiz that offense looks like it might dip a bit unless slim Panda maintains that weight and he has a monster season in 2017.
Does Encarnacion get rave reviews at 1B
Myself in 2009 still can’t believe Edwin Encarnacion is unarguably one of the best hitters of the last five years.
LETS GOOOOOO
If you look at the salary for him, it truly didn’t cost them 20 mil. Think of it this way…the extra money they made during the playoffs bring him down to the salary of Napoli (10 mil), at the end of this year they lose the albatross of Johnsons contract (9 mil?). They are really extending themselves on the third year’s in regards to payroll.
But did she get rave reviews? Because your spam sure doesn’t.
Oops, that was supposed to be a reply to a comment which has since been deleted. Carry on, my wayward sons.
Considering Cleveland hasn’t had 2 million fans since 2008 and hasn’t had 3 million since 2001 then I’d consider the bonuses a long shot.
They also have not been to a World Series in many years. If they get off to a good start, they should be able to do it.
Pretty shrewd move from the Indians I think. It kind of puts the onus on the fanbase to come out and support the team and Edwin after they spent the money to get him. We’ll see how it works out.