Jays still not ruling out return of Encarnacion, Bautista
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Safe to say that Boston Red Sox manager John Farrell couldn’t say the same thing — with a straight face, anyway — when he held the same job with the Toronto Blue Jays.
But there was Farrell on the podium Tuesday in a ballroom at the Gaylord National Convention Center, almost gloating at the big news of the day from the baseball winter meetings.
The Red Sox were just hours removed from acquiring, via blockbuster trade with the Chicago White Sox, left-handed ace Chris Sale, further bolstering an already stellar starting rotation.
“They’ve got some big arms and they’ve got a great offence and now they add arguably one of the top three pitchers in the game, I would guess,” Jays manager John Gibbons said. “It just makes them that much better. “But really, that doesn’t shock me.” It probably doesn’t shock many that the Jays, under Rogers Communication ownership, aren’t anywhere near as willing to open up their wallet like division rivals Boston and New York do.
With movement in the free-agent market mostly quiet Tuesday, the Jays aren’t done with what they hoped would be a productive off-season. There is still need for two outfielders, preferably with some power, some bullpen help and a backup catcher.
Jays general manager Ross Atkins said there are still plenty of possibilities as the meetings move on, but at the time nothing had been done yet beyond Monday’s signing utility man Steve Pearce.
So what exactly are the Jays trying to do at this point? Well, they’d probably love to get their hands on outfielder Dexter Fowler, a player Gibbons said would look great batting leadoff for the Jays.
But Atkins said the team is kicking the tires on several players, acknowledging he has been in touch with representatives for both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista.
“We’ve stayed in touch,” Atkins said, when asked about Encarnacion specifically.
“There’s probably not a free agent or potential trade that we haven’t had discussions with with agents or other teams. There’s a lot of things we can do.”