Adrian Beltre Seeks Three-Year Deal From Rangers
Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre is looking for a three-year deal in extension talks with the club, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports (Twitter links). He’s also hoping to out-earn Pablo Sandoval on an annual basis, per the report, which would suggest a deal with an average annual value in excess of $19MM. Presumably, that contract would kick in following the 2016 campaign, as Beltre is already guaranteed $18MM for the upcoming season.
As things stand, unsurprisingly, there’s said to be a “significant gap” between the sides. If nothing else, it seems that there’s quite a bit of negotiating left to do to find agreement. We have heard recently about mutual interest in a deal, however, as Jon Morosi of FOX Sports reported.
Beltre will soon turn 37 and dealt with a significant injury to his thumb last year. But he was still a productive hitter in 2015, with a .287/.334/.453 slash, and was arguably the game’s very best defensive third baseman. It also shouldn’t be forgotten that he was coming off of a five-year run in which he averaged a remarkable .316/.364/.535 batting line and 6.7 rWAR annually.
It’s obvious to see why Texas would have interest in keeping the veteran around, but there’s also good reason to think the organization will be cautious about promising him that kind of money through his age-40 season. In addition to age and injury risks, the Rangers have some promising options in their system, including former top prospect Jurickson Profar and power hitting youngster Joey Gallo.
Finding a middle ground could be a challenge, but still seems a plausible result. In his recent appearance on the MLBTR Podcast, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News opined that it could make sense to see a two-year contract in the range of Beltre’s current earnings — i.e., somewhere in the range of $16MM per year. However, Heyman hints that there’s a sense in Beltre’s camp that he outperformed his prior deal (which is undeniably true), and that could have an effect on his stance in future talks.
As Steve Adams of MLBTR posited in a recent MLBTR chat, it’s not surprising to see a three-year request out of the gates from Beltre. For one thing, Beltre’s reported position is only a starting point: it’s worth noting that, as Grant stated on the podcast, talks haven’t yet progressed much given the team’s other prerogatives. And advanced age doesn’t always preclude that length of contract in free agency. Carlos Beltran landed three years and $45MM from the Yankees for his age-37 through age-39 campaigns, and he wasn’t really even close to Beltre in terms of overall on-field value given his increasingly apparent defensive limitations in the corner outfield.
As things stand, Beltre is set to be one of the few premium players set to hit the open market next winter. He profiles as a future Hall-of-Famer and ranks fourth in total fWAR dating back to 2011, so he presents something of a unique player. Jose Bautista, who is about two years younger, is said to be seeking a $30MM (or greater) AAV over a five- or six-year term, and there’s certainly an argument to be made that Beltre represents a more appealing investment at his reported asking price.
Truth be told, there aren’t many straightforward comparables for a Beltre extension, in large part because it’s unusual to find players who have performed at such a high level — at a difficult defensive position, no less — at this stage of their careers. Entering his age-38 season with free agency beckoning, Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz got another season and $16MM guaranteed from the Red Sox, with a vesting option and second option year at floating prices depending on the prior years’ plate appearances. At the end of a productive 2013 season, the slightly younger Chase Utley signed on for two more guaranteed years at $27MM with a series of vesting options (in an even more complicated deal with the Phillies). Utley, however, had a spottier recent track record due to a series of knee injuries that understandably gave the Phillies pause.
While those agreements fall shy of what Beltre is seeking, it’s fair to note that some huge extensions have promised premium salaries up to or through players’ age-40 campaigns. That was the case for players like Miguel Cabrera, Joey Votto, Albert Pujols, and Alex Rodriguez, though of course all of those deals also covered more youthful campaigns. But, in some sense, every time a monster contract pushes control towards or past a player’s 40th birthday, the hope is that the player profiles as well as Beltre does now when the end of the deal approaches.
In the end, those contracts don’t really tell us much about Beltre’s own late-career earning power, as the late-30s years that were guaranteed in each of those deals was the cost of locking up the remaining prime seasons of each of those stars. Few players have maintained this level of productivity into the late stages of their career with the prospect of another bite at free agency looming, so any contract he signs will ultimately be deemed as something of a precedent-setter for aging-but-elite players that still hold open-market aspirations.
Latest On Extension Talks Between Cubs, Jake Arrieta
MARCH 8, 7:46pm: USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reports that the Cubs and Arrieta had discussions early in the winter, but the team wasn’t interested in making an offer greater than five total years (Twitter link). It’s not 100 percent clear whether that means five years including the upcoming campaign or five years on top of Arrieta’s $10.7MM salary for the coming season, but if talks were early enough in the winter, they likely predated that arbitration agreement, so it seems reasonable to infer that the Cubs were interested in locking up the 2016-20 seasons (two arb years and three free-agent seasons). Arrieta, Nightengale adds, was seeking “at least” seven years, which lines up with Heyman’s initial report.
3:00pm: President of baseball operations Theo Epstein says that the team doesn’t feel any pressure to reach a deal in the near term, as Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times reports in a series of tweets (1; 2; 3; 4; 5; 6). He called the discussions thus far productive in “provid[ing] a foundation for something to get done down the road” and noted there’s “no hard deadline, but there are no active talks.”
10:14am: Arrieta confirmed to reporters that there have been talks. They “go back to last fall and winter,” sources tell Bruce Levine of 670thescore.com (via Twitter). The righty says that Chicago’s range of years didn’t line up with what he was looking for, as MLB.com’s Carrie Muskat reports (links to Twitter). “I want to stay here for six or seven years, and that’s it,” he said while emphasizing that he does hope to remain with the organization for the long haul.
Arrieta also suggested he’d “prefer to not have a lot of open dialogue about [an extension] during the season,” as Mark Gonzalez of the Chicago Tribune reports (video link). Talks haven’t been extensive, he said, in part because the front office “kind of know[s] the ballpark of where [a deal] needs to be.”
MARCH 7: The Cubs briefly explored a “mega extension” with ace righty Jake Arrieta, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network (links to Twitter), but the sides wrapped up their discussions when it became apparent they would not see eye to eye on the length of a prospective new contract. The Scott Boras client was believed to be seeking a seven-year pact, per the report.
While that term of years was apparently a non-starter for Chicago, Heyman adds that the Cubs front office appears to be willing to re-open talks again in the future. Arrieta recently agreed to a $10.7MM deal to avoid arbitration for the coming season, and can be controlled for one additional campaign through the arb process before qualifying for free agency.
Arrieta turned 30 yesterday, so he doesn’t exactly have his youngest years left to sell. But he’s also turned into one of the game’s most dominant starters, as evidenced by his Cy Young award last year. Arrieta’s career revival in Chicago was already remarkable, but after that 2015 campaign he could be set up as a premium free agent after the 2017 season.
Last year, Arrieta spun 229 frames of 1.77 ERA pitching, racking up 9.3 K/9 against just 1.9 BB/9 with a 56.2% groundball rate. That remarkable run was good enough to edge out the Dodgers’ outstanding duo of Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke to take home honors as the National League’s best hurler. Though he wasn’t quite as effective in his later postseason outings, Arrieta also spun a complete game shutout to lead the Cubs to a wild card play-in victory.
As things stand, a hypothetical seven-year contract would take Arrieta through at least his age-36 season (assuming a deal would have covered the season to come). We’ve seen very few lengthy extensions of pitchers with at least four years of service time, with Cole Hamels (six years, $144MM) and Kershaw (seven years, $215MM) looking like the most reasonable comparables. Of course, both of those pitchers were both younger and had accumulated an additional year of service at the time they reached their deals.
More recent market developments would certainly also come into play. We’ve seen pitchers like Max Scherzer (seven years, $210MM), David Price (seven years, $217MM), and Greinke (six years, $206.5MM) top the $200MM threshold in recent seasons, and Arrieta will no doubt hope to land in a similar range if he can maintain anything close to his current level of performance. Greinke, in particular, represents a notable data point, as he’s slightly older now than Arrieta will be when he qualifies for free agency — showing that somewhat older arms can still land massive deals.
Of course, committing to that kind of deal at this point, with two years of control still remaining, is quite a different proposition for a club. If nothing else, Arrieta would surely be forced to give a discount for his arb years and distance from the open market.
Aaron Altherr Out Four To Six Months Due To Wrist Surgery
The rebuilding Phillies suffered a significant loss today, announcing that oufielder Aaron Altherr requires wrist surgery and will be sidelined for four to six months. Altherr’s surgery will repair a torn extensor carpi ulnaris retinaculum in his left wrist and will be performed tomorrow by Dr. Randall Culp. Altherr reportedly suffered the injury making a diving play back on March 4, though his initial belief was that this injury wasn’t as serious as a previous wrist injury that required surgery in 2013.
The 25-year-old Altherr figured to receive everyday at-bats (or close to it) in Philadelphia on the heels of a solid rookie campaign in which he batted .241/.338/.489 in 161 trips to the plate. Altherr racked up 11 doubles, four triples and five homers in addition to six steals in his brief time with the Phils, flashing the extra-base power and speed that made him one of the organization’s more intriguing prospects. Between that success and the .293/.367/.487 batting line authored by Altherr between Double-A and Triple-A last year, the German-born outfielder had little to prove in the minor leagues.
With Altherr now spending the bulk, if not the entirety of the season on the disabled list, the door is open for Rule 5 pick Tyler Goeddel to make the club and carve out a role with the team. The Phillies also have sophomore Odubel Herrera (a Rule 5 pick himself a year ago) in the mix after his own strong rookie season. Veteran Peter Bourjos and former top prospect Cody Asche are both options for manager Pete Mackanin, too, though each will need to rebuild his stock after a poor showing in 2015.
Pro Football Rumors Has NFL Free Agency Covered
The NFL’s free agent period will officially begin in less than 24 hours and several big name players are poised to change teams. The Broncos badly want to elevate quarterback Brock Osweiler to the starting role in 2016, but he will be courted by the Texans and several other teams if he is not signed by tomorrow. Dolphins defensive end Olivier Vernon is arguably the best pass rusher in this year’s crop and the Giants, Raiders, Browns, and Titans are in pursuit. The Jaguars are also high on Vernon and they could pair him with the newly-signed Malik Jackson. Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin could join up with an NFC West rival and Dolphins tailback Lamar Miller could land with another team in the state of Florida. You can keep up with these storylines and many, many more with Pro Football Rumors.
Need to study up on these names? Well, we have you covered with PFR’s Top 50 NFL Free Agents list. Read our comprehensive guide to see where Doug Martin, Janoris Jenkins, Damon Harrison, Eric Weddle, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Greg Hardy, and other free agent notables rank.
Whether you’re a hardcore football fan or more of a casual watcher, you’re going to want to stay plugged in with PFR all offseason long. Here’s how you can get our up-to-the-second NFL news:
Carter Capps To Undergo Tommy John Surgery
High-powered Marlins reliever Carter Capps will undergo Tommy John surgery today, the club has announced. The 25-year-old right-hander will have his UCL replaced by surgeon James Andrews.
Both team and player had been holding out hope for a better outcome from yesterday’s visit with Andrews. It would appear that the famed elbow repairman advised in favor of the procedure, which will knock Capps out for the entirety of the 2016 season and — depending upon his recovery timeline — a piece of 2017 as well.
The news is enormously disappointing for all involved. It’s hard to overstate just how good Capps was last year — when he was healthy — and Miami surely had visions of him forming a high-quality 1-2 punch with A.J. Ramos. Indeed, there was some talk of sliding Capps into the closer role, in part to help manage his usage but also in reflection of the fact that he led all of baseball with a 0.87 SIERA on the strength of an absurd strikeout-to-walk ratio (16.8 K/9 vs. 2.0 BB/9).
It’s perhaps even more disappointing for Capps himself, who had only just reached arbitration eligibility. Despite his dominance last year, his relatively low innings count in 2015 and underwhelming prior results held him to a $988K salary. Another big season — especially if utilized in the 9th — would have set Capps up for a major raise.
Instead, he’ll enter next winter with expectations of receiving a repeat of his current-year earnings. The Marlins will surely feel that price is worth the risk, and will also control Capps for a final arb-eligible season in 2018 before he qualifies for the open market.
It remains to be seen what Miami will do to address this loss. Surely, a replacement that would match Capps in quality won’t be available (at least, for anything less than an exorbitant rate). The club still has plenty of big fastballs in the pen, but will likely be looking to add depth. Whether or not an immediate move is explored, there ought to be plenty of options as camp battles are won and lost late in the spring.
It’s worth noting that Capps landed as the tenth most likely Tommy John patient in all of baseball in the recent statistical study undertaken by MLBTR contributor Bradley Woodrum. As Woodrum has explained in that post and in his appearance on last week’s MLBTR Podcast, the bottom-line predictive value of his work is relatively low (although still surprisingly powerful), so the placement of Capps and other higher-risk arms shouldn’t be viewed as an expectation of surgery so much as an indication that such pitchers may be worthy of increased attention and caution by their respective teams.
White Sox To Sign Austin Jackson
The White Sox have agreed to terms with outfielder Austin Jackson on a $5MM contract, Jon Heyman writes (all Twitter links). Jackson is a Scott Boras client.
Heyman notes that Jackson could have signed with the Angels for more money, but preferred to stay in Chicago (where he played with the Cubs last season) and play center field, rather than left. Late last month, it was reported that Jackson had rejected an offer from the Angels in the $5MM-$6MM range.
Jackson, 29, batted .267/.311/.385 in 527 plate appearances last season, spending most of the year with the Mariners before heading to the Cubs in a late-August deal. His hitting has, on the whole, been mildly disappointing the past two seasons, as he struggled to hit home runs in pitcher-friendly Seattle and has largely continued his career-long trend of being strikeout-prone. He has generally produced good value on the bases, however (despite stealing only 17 bases compared to ten times caught last year). Jackson is also fairly young and has maintained a reasonably high baseline level of performance, producing over 2 fWAR in five of his six seasons in the big leagues.
Jackson played center in Seattle but spent most of his time in the corners after being traded. His defense has graded as about average in center field — UZR rated him as 7.5 runs above average in center last season but was less favorable in the two years before that, while Defensive Runs Saved has marked him as about average in all of the last three seasons. He has rated as a better defender than incumbent White Sox center fielder Adam Eaton, who had a good year with the bat in 2015. It’s possible Eaton could move to a corner, or maybe Jackson could take at bats in center when Eaton isn’t playing and also play occasionally in a corner himself. Eaton is currently dealing with a shoulder issue, but via CSN Chicago’s Dan Hayes (on Twitter), the White Sox do not seem overly concerned about Eaton’s health.
It isn’t surprising that the White Sox would be interested in Jackson, given their reported pursuits of outfielders like Dexter Fowler and Alex Gordon. Jackson’s signing will likely cut into Avisail Garcia‘s playing time, and though Jackson is far from a perfect player, he appears to be a significant upgrade (keeping in mind that Garcia is 24 and could improve). Garcia hit a disappointing .257/.309/.365 last season while struggling defensively in right. Jackson’s presence strengthens a White Sox defense that rated as worst in the Majors last season, via Fangraphs. The Jackson deal continues a busy South Side offseason that has also included the additions of Todd Frazier, Brett Lawrie, Mat Latos, Alex Avila, Dioner Navarro and others, as the Sox have attempted to remake a roster that came up well short of expectations in a 76-win 2015 season.
Jackson’s $5MM price tag appears very reasonable for a player of his caliber. Before last offseason began, MLBTR projected that Jackson would receive more than twice that much, at $12MM for one year. Perhaps, though, the slow-developing outfield market influenced Jackson’s payday. Last week, MLBTR’s Steve Adams listed the White Sox as one of several teams that could have interest in Jackson.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Chase Utley Won’t Serve Further Suspension For Slide
Dodgers infielder Chase Utley will not have to serve a suspension for his controversial slide into Ruben Tejada in last season’s NLDS, a source tells Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times (on Twitter). Utley was supposed to sit out two more games to round out his suspension.
During the seventh inning of Game 2 of the NLDS, Utley’s hard slide broke up a double play and broke Tejada’s fibula. In the end, the Mets bested the Dodgers and went on to the World Series, but they were subsequently without the services of their starting shortstop.
MLB’s Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre determined that Utley made a “rolling block … away from the base” when he took out Tejada. However, there was no rule against such a slide until this winter.
The 36-year-old Utley joined the Dodgers after an August trade with the Phillies and hit just .202/.291/.363, numbers that don’t come close to his All-Star years. In December, the Dodgers and Utley reached agreement on a new one-year, $7MM deal. This year, the Dodgers might be hoping he improves somewhat offensively, making him a valuable player when coupled with his defensive abilities.
When asked for his reaction to today’s news, Mets GM Sandy Alderson said he’s just glad the sliding rule has been changed, as Adam Rubin of ESPN.com writes.
Brett Anderson To Undergo Back Surgery, Out 3 To 5 Months
Dodgers lefty Brett Anderson is set to undergo surgery today on a bulging disk in his back, MLB.com’s Ken Gurnick reports (Twitter links). Anderson is expected to miss three to five months.
The news comes as a major blow to a Dodgers organization that has rolled the dice on several starters with injury questions. Anderson accepted the team’s $15.8MM qualifying offer at the outset of the offseason, returning on a one-year deal after his first healthy season in recent memory.
This won’t be Anderson’s first procedure for a bulging disk, as he underwent a similar surgery late in 2014. He’s missed time with other maladies before and since, of course, but his back health will now be an even greater question than it had been previously.
While there’s still hope that Anderson will contribute to the staff this year, that doesn’t mean the loss won’t tell. Fellow lefty Hyun-jin Ryu is still working back from shoulder surgery and has experienced some soreness. Brandon McCarthy remains a ways off from returning from a Tommy John procedure. Even the team’s newest MLB additions — Kenta Maeda and Scott Kazmir — are pitchers who have long-term health questions. Likewise, righty Frankie Montas, who profiled as a young rotation possibility as the season progresses, will miss time with rib surgery. (All that after the team blew up a prospective deal with Hisashi Iwakuma over the results of his physical.)
All that being said, it isn’t as if the club is hurting for options. Alex Wood now looks like a good bet to open in the rotation, where he’s had plenty of past success (despite coming with his own questions given his unusual delivery). Mike Bolsinger and Carlos Frias had their moments last year. The oft-injured Brandon Beachy is back on a minor league deal. Just-signed Cuban free agent Yaisel Sierra could potentially factor in, as could a variety of rising prospects including Jharel Cotton, Chris Anderson, Zach Lee, and top prospects Jose De Leon and Julio Urias.
Anderson, who only just turned 28, turned in 180 1/3 innings of 3.69 ERA ball last year, more than justifying the risk taken by Los Angeles. Indeed, he was even better than his results by measure of xFIP (3.51) and SIERA (3.46). But he hadn’t even logged 100 frames in a single season for the four preceding years, leading to questions about how his market would develop and aiding his decision to accept the QO.
The talented southpaw will, hopefully, have an opportunity to re-establish his health at some point later in the 2016 season. He could well provide a significant boost at that point, as might McCarthy, and it’s entirely possible that the Dodgers will have plenty of options down the stretch. As things stand, though, he’ll have to battle through another tough medical setback. Needless to say, both his future earning outlook and the possibility of the team benefiting from making a second consecutive QO have taken a hit.
Cardinals Extend Kolten Wong
The Cardinals have announced an extension with 25-year-old second baseman Kolten Wong. Wong, a client of PSI Sports Management, will reportedly be guaranteed $25.5MM over five years, beginning in 2016. The contract also includes a $12.5MM option (with a $1MM buyout) for another season, and doesn’t come with any no-trade protection.
Because it begins with the 2016 campaign, the deal will give St. Louis control over two free agent seasons — the latter via option — in addition to covering Wong’s entire arbitration eligibility. He’ll be under team control through his age-30 campaign. Wong had entered the spring with just over two years of MLB service under his belt and had yet to qualify for arbitration. Now, he’s set to earn $1.25MM in 2016, $2.5MM in 2017, $4MM in 2018, $6.5MM in 2019 and $10.25MM in 2020.
Last year was Wong’s first as a full-time regular, and he came out of the gates strong with an excellent first half. He ultimately faded down the stretch, struggling in particular against left-handed pitching. All told, his overall offensive output — a .262/.321/.386 batting line with 11 home runs and 15 stolen bases over 613 plate appearances — represented a fairly close match to his 2014 campaign.
With excellent baserunning and strong glovework added into the equation, Wong has played at about a 2-WAR rate to start his career. Surely, both he and the team will hope that he can build off of that as he matures. Even if he doesn’t develop into a sturdy everyday regular, he figures to represent a heavily-used and readily platoon-able option at second.
Indeed, the club already has a platoon mate on hand in the righty-swinging Jedd Gyorko, who is controllable through 2020 (the final season via option). He has fared much better against opposing southpaws over his first several seasons in the majors. The Cards added Gyorko earlier this winter from the Padres, taking over his prior extension (with about a fifth of the tab staying on San Diego’s books).
It remains to be seen precisely how playing time will be allocated — Gyorko could, at least in theory, also spend time at first with Matt Carpenter entrenched at third — but the club certainly now has infield options moving forward. By locking up Wong now, before he has a chance to boost his earning power and shorten his free agent timeline in the coming season, St. Louis will lock in a quality player at a reasonable rate of pay. For Wong, of course, the deal represents a chance to secure earnings now rather than rolling the dice year-to-year.
Ultimately, it’s not clear how much room for growth there is in Wong’s game. He walks and strikes out just a bit under the league average rates, with a career ISO that’s right at the mean for his position. Most of his other batted-ball results stand at or near that of a league-average player, and he never exactly set the world on fire in the minors. He’s certainly justified his former status as a first-round pick and top-100 prospect, but probably isn’t ticketed for stardom.
Of course, the Cards don’t need Wong to play at a superstar level to justify this commitment, and the Gyorko acquisition seems to suggest they don’t really expect it, either. There aren’t many direct comparables for the deal, but the most recent at the second base position is the four-year, $20MM extension reached by the Twins and Brian Dozier last winter. That contract only covered his arbitration eligibility, and represented the heightened arb earning ability in his power bat.
A better comp, though, might be found in another deal last winter: center fielder Adam Eaton‘s five-year, $23.5MM pact with the White Sox, which came with two club options. That contract has long looked like a nice get for the team, and today’s deal only adds to that impression. Wong understandably fell shy of the six-year, $50MM+ guarantees landed by two other 2+ service-time players in recent years, Carpenter and Jason Kipnis, each of whom were coming off of much bigger seasons when they signed their deals.
Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch first reported the agreement on Twitter. SB Nation’s Chris Cotillo reported financial terms (all links to Twitter), while ESPN.com’s Mark Saxon had the term of the deal and its lack of a no-trade clause (Twitter links).
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Blue Jays, Edwin Encarnacion Begin Preliminary Extension Talks
The Blue Jays and first baseman/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion met today to begin the process of exploring an extension, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. The Rep 1 Baseball client has gone on record recently to express his desire to remain with Toronto. The 33-year-old told the Toronto media last week that ideally, he would finish his career with the Blue Jays, as Davidi notes within his column.
Encarnacion is wrapping up a contract extension that guaranteed him $27MM from the 2013-15 seasons and included a $10MM club option for the upcoming 2016 campaign. That option “decision” was a no-brainer for the Blue Jays after Encarnacion batted .277/.372/.557 with 39 home runs in 146 games. That type of elite production has become par for the course for Encarnacion, who, like teammate Jose Bautista, experienced a late breakout in Toronto and has now blossomed into one of baseball’s premier power hitters. Dating back to the 2012 season, Encarnacion has batted .274/.371/.549, averaging 38 home runs and 28 doubles per season. And, unlike many prolific home run hitters, Encarnacion boasts one of the lowest strikeout rates in the league; across that four-year span, he’s punched out at just a 13.8 percent rate while walking in 12.5 percent of his plate appearances.
As such, despite his advanced age and limited defensive value, Encarnacion would be among the most in-demand free agents on next year’s open market were he to reach free agency. Defensively limited sluggers like Nelson Cruz and Victor Martinez have secured significant four-year extensions beginning with their age-34 and age-36 seasons, respectively, and Encarnacion’s camp would have an easy case to surpass those $57MM (Cruz) and $68MM (Martinez) contracts with ease. He’ll be two years younger than was Martinez at the time of his signing (without a recent knee surgery under his belt), and he has a considerably more consistent track record than Cruz did upon entering the open market (without a recent PED suspension on his record).
Encarnacion would be a lock to receive and reject a qualifying offer in the event that an extension cannot be brokered, and if the Jays endure an unexpected collapse and find themselves well out of the race come late July, Encarnacion could fetch a considerable haul on the summer trade market. All of that is to say that Toronto isn’t in danger of losing Encarnacion for nothing, but with him and Bautista both eligible for free agency following the season, there’s likely a sense of urgency to get something completed. Recent extension talks with Bautista may have increased the Jays’ motivation to work something out with Encarnacion, as Bautista reportedly sought a deal spanning more than five years and exceeding $150MM in total value (though his reported target in terms of annual value was under $30MM per year). Bautista plainly stated that he wasn’t interested in negotiating beyond the point of naming his asking price, making a long-term deal between the two sides seem unlikely.
Knowing that one of the cornerstones of their offense could very well be embarking on his final season with the team, the Blue Jays could feel some pressure to lock in a new deal with their other franchise slugger. Any talks between the two sides will need to be wrapped up before the conclusion of Spring Training, as Encarnacion has said that he doesn’t want talks to linger into the regular season.