The Blue Jays have signed infielder Danny Espinosa to a minor-league deal with an invite to spring training, Gregor Chisholm of MLB.com reports. Tim Brown of Yahoo Sports was first to report that Espinosa had been spotted in the Jays’ camp.
The Yankees signed the 30-year-old switch-hitter to a minor-league deal earlier in the offseason. At the time, he seemed to have at least an outside shot to crack the Bombers’ roster as the team’s second baseman or utility infielder. That door closed to a sliver, however, when the club acquired Brandon Drury from the Diamondbacks, and slammed shut when the club signed veteran Neil Walker to a one-year, $4MM deal. With safer options in place, the Yanks released the veteran infielder; they had little reason to keep Espinosa around, who struggled to a .197/.286/.344 batting line with a 31.6% strikeout rate across the past two seasons.
A week ago, it would have seemed that Espinosa had even less of a chance to break through with the Jays. But following the news that Troy Tulowitzki is unlikely to be ready for opening day, there’s at least an opportunity for Espinosa to compete for an infield job in Toronto. That competition will be stiff, though; Devon Travis, Aledmys Diaz and Yangervis Solarte would seem to be firmly ahead of him on the depth chart.
Espinosa’s best seasons came with the Nationals from 2011-2012. During those seasons, he amassed 1,316 plate appearances and hit .242/.319/.408 with 38 homers and 37 steals. He was worth 6.8 fWAR during that span in part due to his sparkling defense at second base.
Troy Tulowitzski is always injured. He hasn’t played 150+ games since 2009! I don’t know why the Jays don’t move him to the outfield or better yet, the DH. His bat is lethal and worth a slot on a major league roster, but jeez, its far from obvious that he does not have the durability necessary to be a major league shortstop.
Didn’t this guy decline a big contract with WAS?
Why do I think he had $100m offer on the table which he declined a few years back.
Looking at this off season market, seems like the correction is taking place for those massive contracts the likes of Justin Upton, Chris Davis and Jason Heyward got a few years ago
You may be thinking of Ian Desmond.
I think that was Ian Desmond ..
I may be mistaken, but I believe that you’re referring to Ian Desmond.
or the worst long term deal Ryan Howard
He was pushed out bc of trey
Tulo has hit .250 with a .420 slugging since coming to the Jays. How is that even worth the DH slot? Jays have that with Morales already
Tulo was just lucky to get good numbers because he was playing for the Rockies . It is a lot harder in Toronto or any other park .
Nah, Tulo had hip surgery that ended his 2014 season. For example, he hasn’t had close to the same on road statistics since that tragic injury. He had a .810OPS or better on the road for every season from 2009-2014.
An .810OPS or better calculated to a 124WRC+ or better on the road which for a elite defensive Shortstop is pretty great. He’s now 33 years old and the many season ending injuries have added up.
With the logjam the Jays already have in the outfield, where would he play out there? And how could they move him to DH with Kendrys Morales still under contract for two more years? Besides, his defense is still good. There’s no reason to change his position. He’ll get injured just as often anywhere else.
Tulo will go to 3B after the Jays trade Donaldson at the break! They will be out of the race
and will trade Donaldson after not giving him the years/money on an extension that he wants!
You have that backwards. His bat is brutal but his defence at short is what keeps him on the field. The league needs a designated fielder position.
Yup, Tulo needs to move to 3rd, 1st or DH to save wear and tear on his older breaking down body..Unfortunately the Jays are deep and 1st and DH and Tulo ain’t replacing JD unless he is traded at the dealine.
The Jays’ DH spot and the OF are clogged up. And Tulo doesn’t want to move off SS.
But if he can’t play the position, I have to wonder if he will be released in November.
You guys are crazy. Tulo is great at short. It’s a pleasure to watch him play the position. It’s just unfortunate that you don’t get to watch him play it much, seemingly every year
Are you thinking of Ian Desmond? He turned down seven-year $107MM i spring of 2014, settling for two years $17.5MM to buy out his remaining Arb years, to become FA. A down 2015, forced him to settle one-year $8M with the Rangers.
After a solid season in Texas, Desmond was rewarded with five year $70MM contract with the Rockies, that redeemed that initial decision, but the choice cost him more than $10MM covering eight years of his career if his 2022 club option for $13M gets picked up, which puts him in the ballpark of the Nats original offer he turned down, but spread over nine years, not seven, with difference in AAV meaning he’ll have made $3MM LESS PER YEAR from his original decision to reject Nats’ 7 year $104M extension, choosing instead to buy out his final 2 years of arbitration, and test free agency.
Basically, he fell into the trap that players this offseason did. Also, I may be wrong, but didn’t Desmond get 5/75?
five-year $70M (2017-2021) plus 2022 club option
2022 Team option is $15M tho, (not $13M) Sorry.
Source: Nice piece, Worth a readc though printed January 13 2017, knowledge it provided, was priceless, and more relevant now than ever, Lol
Other familar names who declined more lucrative offers from their teams mentioned: Edwin Encarnación. This is probably my favorite ESPN article, even though the author no longer works for ESPN. (Bleeding money; so one of many who lost his job in ESPN layoffs)
I’m sure many of you know who he is.
espn.com/blog/the-gms-office/insider/post?id=13725
One thing we’re forgetting about Espinosa is that he can do outfield too. The Jays just lost pompey and alford and while neither was likely to make the roster, they were almost certainly close to the top of the list for a call-up. Who knows, maybe the goal is to send him to AAA to serve as depth until an injury with a 06/01 opt-out.
Tulo has yet to accept his fate. I think he remains bitter over being traded from Colorado, I think Tulo considered himself the next-in-line for Derek Jeter’s former job with the Yanks, don’t think he’s crazy about playing in Toronto (a fantastic city), and refuses to acknowledge his endless run of injuries. Tulo should be playing first base, but I think he’s rejected that idea (no discredit to Smoak). Tulo & Devon Travis make for an injury prone pair up the middle. Shame, too, Travis is a good ball player. Tulo needs to work with reality, not in opposition to same.
Tulo is hurt. Travis will get hurt. Same with Pearce. Espinosa provides depth in the middle infield and corner outfield. Even as a last option the Jays still need it. Question is with Axford and potentially Clippard also looking for a spot on the 40 man who are the 3 guys coming off now? Pompey, Smith Jr and…?
I don’t know how it works for suspensions but I think the Jays are sitting at 39 players on their 40 man roster due to Thomas Pannone getting popped for 80 games yesterday for PED’s. Assuming, however, that they’re still sitting at 40 and need three spots I’d bet it would be Smith Jr., Dermody, and maybe Ngoepe.
Dermody is going back to the minors as is Ngoepe. Smith Jr can play in the bigs now, so who knows.