Blue Jays swing deal for outfielder

TORONTO — The Toronto Blue Jays feel as though they’ve found their replacement for Jose Bautista in right field.

Toronto acquired outfielder Randal Grichuk from the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday for reliever Dominic Leone and minor league pitcher Conner Greene.

“I think he’ll have the best chance of our group to take that position over for us in right field,” Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told reporters. “The fact that we have options and we’ll have some balance in today’s game, asking someone to get 700 plate appearances is a lot. There’s very few players that are doing it day in and day out. So where that number ends up, we’ll see, but I think he’ll have the best chance at the outset to be that regular for us.”

The 26-year-old Grichuk appeared in 122 games for St. Louis in 2017, batting .238, with 22 home runs, 59 runs batted in and an on-base plus slugging percentage of .758.

Grichuk has played 57 games in left field, 55 in right and five in centre. He has a career batting average of .249, with 66 homers and 182 RBIs in four seasons with the Cardinals.

Toronto has been seeking a replacement for Bautista after not picking up the option on his contract, making the longtime Blue Jay a free agent.

The Blue Jays also picked up veteran outfielder Curtis Granderson on Monday.

Atkins said he likes a lot of elements that Grichuk can bring to Toronto, including athleticism, control, his power and the fact that he plays multiple positions.

“Actually, our objective and subjective information is very very good on him defensively, so I think there’s a lot to like,” Atkins added.