The Blue Jays have designated outfielder Ezequiel Carrera for assignment, per the organization (h/t Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca, via Twitter). The roster spot was needed for righty Seung-hwan Oh, whose signing is now official.
With Curtis Granderson and Randal Grichuk entering the Jays’ outfield mix this winter, Carrera lacked a clear path to a significant role. Though it seemed possible he might sneak in as a fifth outfielder, particularly since Granderson is the only Toronto outfielder who hits from the left side, that would have meant squeezing the infield or pitching depth. Clearly, that’s not the direction the Jays front office decided to go.
[RELATED: Updated Blue Jays Depth Chart]
Carrera, 30, turned in a useful season at the plate in 2017. Over 325 plate appearances, he slashed .282/.356/.408 with eight home runs and ten steals. That said, the outfielder’s lifetime offensive output (89 wRC+) is not quite as impressive and he needed a .358 batting average on balls in play to post his personal-best slash. While metrics soured on his glovework last year, Carrera has graded as an above-average corner outfielder in the past and has spent plenty of time in center.
It’s hardly an exciting profile, but Carrera could conceivably draw interest. He’s slated to earn a not-insignificant $1.9MM this year via arbitration, though, so interested teams may prefer to pursue him as a free agent than claim him or trade for him. Unless another organization takes over the contract, the Blue Jays will owe Carrera thirty days of pay (just over $300K).
Not surprising. He’s an alright bench bat but he has absolutely no baseball sense.
Let’s see if the Pirates snatch up another outfielder
I liked Zeke at the plate last year, but watching him in the outfield was painful. It was like he had no idea who to throw the ball to, so he just picked somebody and threw it.
Exactly this. I figured he’d be the outfielder to go but I wish him all the best.
I imagine someone will bite and take a flier based on his 760ish 2017 ops and can steal a few bases
Maybe the giants? Or a of needy team, possibly one of the 8 or 10 teams that are tanking and dont expect to compete etc
I can definitely see the Giants, as long as they give him some drills to do as far as learning which bases to throw to.
Completely agree. As long as he can tighten up his defensive fundamentals, Carrera would be a much better option than Gregor Blanco.
I was just thinking how that slash line is probably better than any Giants outfielder had last year. SF is heavy on lefties though and they have Blanco (projected to make the team by a few writers) who can play CF. But I would take him on a minors deal for some depth. Given the way SF churned through OFers last year I suspect they probably need a bunch
Where’s Jimmertee to tell us that Jays let go of Barry Bonds?
Really? Creating an account to demoralize someone on a baseball news site?
It’s okay, when you have someone that is so determined to bring another down, I must be doing something right.
#scoutseyes
Well yeah, I guess. It’s being annoying though. You’re doing that right. Troll accuses troll of being sad for trolling.
But congrats if it makes you feel better?
No. You’re doing something horribly, horribly wrong
> when you have someone that is so determined to bring another down, I must be doing something right.
Spoken by every conspiracy theorist and UFO believer who couldn’t make their case.
I’m mad at myself for not making another account with that handle. God bless yournotascout tho, keep doing God’s work
No you’re not! People are just tired of the douche nozzle scout stuff!
Wasn’t he like their second best hitter last season?
Haha,,, like yeah right,,, right after Bautista 🙂
My bad. Apparently he was their third best hitter, behind Donaldson and Smoak (who I had forgot exited) last season according to OPS+
To bad for Zeke, good guy, decent piece on a ball club. He had a few clutch plays and hits over the years. But they are not going to win a championship when Zeke is getting 250+ AB’s/yr. I hope he catches on with another team quickly.
Rockies sign this guy ASAP
I wouldnt be shocked to see him get claimed, but the nearly $2m salary might be a deterrent when theres the option to acquire him (presumably on a minor league contract) without having to guarantee him much $ or a roster spot.
Zeke had this great moment vs. the Mariners back in 2015, where he was playing left field and reeled in what would’ve been a Mike Zunino home run….. this ends the half-inning, then he comes up to the plate and hits a home run himself, right to the same spot.
Definitely one of the better and more charming bench players the Blue Jays have had in recent years. Kinda hope he can stay with the team.
Kinda hope the orioles grab him
Hey Reggie Jackson wasn’t that great with the glove – the late Billy Martin really showed him for that “no big star BS” with Billy. Zeke is not alone…
Carrera has his faults, but he was one of the few guys the Blue Jays had who could actually run. They only had 53 stolen bases last season & had 10 of them. They were already one of,if not the slowest teams in baseball. Now, they are even slower. There isn’t going to be a lot of manufacturing of runs in Toronto this season
Numbers wise you’re not wrong. But the Jays strategy the last few years has never been strong on manufacturing runs. Runners would not attempt to steal bases which worked to a point when we had JD, EE and Joey Bats mashing but then got exploited in the playoffs. We definitely need to be more scratch and claw oriented offensively. Not sure if these are the hitters to do so but hopefully Travis can stay healthy and guys like Grichuk bounce back.
Grichuk is a much better runner than Zeke. He may have had a little speed, but he consistently made base running errors and got himself thrown out
Grichuk doesn’t steal bases. Atkins said at the end of last season that he wanted to get more athletic & faster. He wanted a team that put the ball in play more. He hasn’t done that. Granderson is old & slow and strikes out a ton. Grichuk doesn’t steal bases & strikes out a lot. It would’ve made more sense to sign Dyson or Maybin than Granderson. That way at least the Jays would have at least one guy who could reek havoc on the base paths. The Jays are too one-dimensional
He had 4 less than Carrera, but that wasn’t my point. He’s a guy who can take an extra base or go first to third a lot better than anyone on the team last year.
Which is why I wanted Maybin or Dyson and not Granderson.
Grichuk can actually steal bases. He was held back in St. Louis after his knee injury. He has already stated he will get more opportunities to steal with the Jays. Hopefully his new pitching machine will help with the strike outs. He is definitely faster than Bautista so they did get faster in one position. Travis is also faster than Goins. I think they will have more speed this year.
I remember back in ’13, Philly grabbed him on a late March waiver claim and DFA’d Ender Inciarte (R5 pick at the time).
I remember Zeke scored the winning run as a pinch runner on a Kevin Frandsen walk off hit against KC on Opening Night (I was there with my dad) and then we lost him on waivers back to Cleveland the next week. I forget who we added to the roster in his place, but his nams has always stuck out to me for that.
Zeke always had a place on the jays roster because 1. Batted left handed jays still are right handed dominant for what seems like 4 yrs now and 2. Could steal a base if you needed him.
He was scary in the OF. Took bad routes or didn’t know where to throw the ball or would nearly run into other players.
Zeke would be alright as a 5th OF playing in AAA getting a call up if you need a stopgap replacement for a week because he can provide some energy, Jays seemed to play their best ball when Zeke was providing energy
Maybe they can trade him for a $2M reliever that has option years remaining
Let him reinvent himself, Go to a pitchers’ camp, learn a curve, and come back as Ohtani +/-2:
by June, because of their love of financially feasible rethreads, and to enhance their win-loss record of one-run games under Gibboons, the manager ( if someone told him to do so ) can use him i) in the BP, ii) also as a pinch runner, iii) and a pinch-hitter….eureka, the Jays’ own, more or less version of Ohtani !!!
Did someone actually compare Zeke to Reggie!?!? I hope that’s just a weak attempt at sarcasm.