Slugging first baseman has been tradition with Blue Jays
TORONTO — Ever since opening day of the Toronto franchise way back in 1977 when Doug Ault was the first-day hero, slamming two home runs to help beat the White Sox at Exhibition Stadium, firstbase has been an important position to any success by the Blue Jays, with a steady procession of key offensive players.
Is Justin Smoak, at 31-yearsold, the next key to that continued success moving forward or are there other choices that could help the Jays with their goal of sustainability as an American League East baseball contender? Maybe something imaginative can be done.
Ault was the primary Jays’ first baseman for just that one season, that first year in 1977. After that, continuing through 41 years of the franchise, the list of Jays’ primary first basemen has been handed down from John Mayberry (1978-81) to Willie Upshaw (’82-87), Fred McGriff (’8890) and John Olerud (’91-96).
Olerud departed for the Mets and the beckoning neon lights on Broadway, handing the Jays’ first-base position to Carlos Delgado for the next eight years, 1997-2004. After Delgado it became Eric Hinske (2005); Lyle Overbay (’06-09); Adam Lind (’11-12); Edwin Encarnacion (’13-14) and, now, Justin Smoak (’15-18).
In all those years, nobody ever matched the contributions of the Delgado years. Signed as a young catcher out of Puerto Rico, Delgado took over as the Jays’ starting first-baseman in 1997, continuing on as leader of the offence and the captain of the infield through 2004, leaving as a free-agent, signing with the Marlins as a 32-year-old in ’05. In his eight years as Jays’ primary firstbaseman, Delgado averaged more than 37 homers and more than 116 RBIs in each of those seasons.
The current first-baseman, Smoak was a prescient signing by the Jays, at the time that they agreed to an extension just after the all-star break in 2016. He was struggling to produce offensively at the time, but a switch-hitter with solid defensive credentials, GM Ross Atkins inked him to a two-year, $8.5-million extension with a $6M club option for 2019. That was a good contract for a platoon first baseman.
The minor move was secondguessed by fans and media at the time, but has worked out well for both sides. Smoak has established himself as an all-star and might feel that he is now underpaid. But if the Jays had kept Encarnacion, the bottom line is that Smoak would never have had the chance to establish himself.
No doubt Smoak is one of the key early contributors on offence for the Jays, with a second straight quick start in 2018 following up on the breakout 2017 season in which he established personal highs in most offensive categories, including 30 homers, 90 RBIs and an OPS of .884. But even with the $6M option in place for ’19, is Smoak really the answer for the Jays at first base, moving forward?
Smoak is solid but not a player you build a franchise’s hopes on. Donaldson is that. Bringer of Rain’s next contract will start at age 33, the same age as Delgado when he left for Florida.
Donaldson has showed recently that his tightly muscled lower body is becoming more susceptible to injury at third base than it might be as the Jays’ first baseman. It would also be easier to get him games at DH to keep him fresh, using the untradeable Kendrys Morales to fill in on those days.