Blue Jays part ways with shortstop Tulowitzki

TORONTO — Troy Tulowitzki had no plans to be anything but a starting shortstop upon his return from injury. The Toronto Blue Jays felt it was unlikely he’d be able to play regularly at an aboveaverage level.

On Tuesday, the Blue Jays made the final move by giving the veteran infielder his release.

“Through many conversations with Troy and his representative Paul Cohen, and with consideration to what is in the best interest of both sides, we made the decision to release Troy today,” general manager Ross Atkins said in a statement.

The unexpected development came in the middle of this week’s annual winter meetings at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino in Las Vegas.

A serious ankle injury and surgery to both heels kept Tulowitzki out of the lineup for the last season and a half. He has been working out with college players of late and Atkins said last week that Tulowitzki was recovering well but his return date was uncertain.

It’s not a cheap cut. Tulowitzki has two years and $34 million US remaining on his contract along with a $4-million US buyout on a $15-million club option for 2021.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is the favourite to land the starting shortstop position for 2019 with Richard Urena the likely backup. Prospect Bo Bichette is coming off a solid year at double-A and could be the team’s shortstop of the future.

Atkins was quite blunt last week when asked about the likelihood of Tulowitzki being able to play regularly at the standard the Blue Jays would need.

“Candidly, and I think Troy would agree with me, that that is not likely,” Atkins said at a meeting of the Toronto chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America. “He will have to overachieve to play shortstop at an above-average level with aboveaverage offensive performance for 140 games. That would be unlikely based on what has occurred in the last two and a half years.

“But that doesn’t mean he’s not going to do it. But candidly, I don’t think that’s likely.”