Blue Jays sign designated hitter Morales
The Toronto Blue Jays’ signing of Kendrys Morales doesn’t necessarily spell the end of Edwin Encarnacion’s time in Toronto, but it definitely lowers the odds of the popular free-agent slugger returning next year.
Hours after the team announced the addition of Morales, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said talks with Encarnacion “are ongoing, they’re still continuing.”
“There are different opportunities, and different alternatives that present themselves when what happened with Kendrys Morales, we felt like we had a deal that we liked and a player that we wanted to acquire and it made our team better,” Atkins said Friday on a conference call.
Morales signed a three-year deal worth $33 million. The 33-year-old is a 10-year MLB veteran who has played for the Los Angeles Angels, Seattle Mariners, Minnesota Twins and Kansas City Royals.
The big questions in the Jays offseason have been about the future of Jose Bautista and Encarnacion, who produced one of the most thrilling plays of the post-season with his 11th-inning walk-off homer win the wild-card game.
With regards to Bautista, also a free agent, Atkins said the addition of Morales doesn’t “impact us on Jose in any way ” in terms of money available or interest.
Morales batted .263 with 30 home runs and 93 RBIs for Kansas City in 2016, and has a .275 career batting average with 132 home runs.
Morales arrives a week after the Jays signed Lourdes Gurriel Jr., the younger brother of Houston Astros infielder Yulieski Gurriel, to a seven-year deal worth $22 million.
The Jays GM also noted Devon Travis has had surgery to have a flap of cartilage removed from his knee. The Jays second baseman injured his right knee during the ALCS opener in Cleveland, ending his season.
BRAVES COUNTING ON GERIATRIC PITCHERS TO LEAD A CONTENDER
With a new stadium nearing completion across the street, R.A. Dickey chuckled at the idea of not being the Atlanta Braves’ oldest starting pitcher next season.
A mere 42, Dickey will be ceding that honour to 43-year-old Bartolo Colon.
“I gave myself the nickname Little Ugly,” Dickey quipped Friday after formally introduced by the Braves in an office tower overlooking SunTrust Park. “Big Sexy and Little Ugly are going to be leading it on.”
All kidding aside the Braves insist their unorthodox moves show how serious they are about contending again for a post-season spot.
The major hole in their massive rebuilding plan was the starting rotation. That’s where Colon and Dickey come in, giving the Braves two guys who can eat up innings, mentor the younger pitchers and not require the sort of long-term commitment that might block the path of several top prospects who are still a year or two away.