Pearce’s versatility gives Jays flexibility
The NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. way Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins sees it, a big swing and a big miss on Edwin Encarnacion doesn’t mean a strikeout for the team’s off-season plans.
So after dusting off from the popular Encarnacion’s rejection of a four-year US$80-million contract offer, Jays management has focused on Plan B.
The latest move in that strategy was the signing Monday of versatile fielder Steve Pearce, an able body but one that has yet to be an everyday player in the major leagues.
The Jays hardly broke the bank on Pearce, who signed a two-year, US$12.5-million deal, largely as a complement to the three-year, US$33-million contract signed by likely designated hitter Kendrys Morales.
But neither of those will strike joy in Jays fans and fear in opposing pitchers the way Encarnacion did, leaving the perennial question of whether the team is willing to chase the bigticket free agent.
“We felt that we could have done that with Edwin at the forefront of our off-season,” Atkins said Monday at baseball’s winter meetings in Maryland. “We are just as confident with our second strategy. It is really nothing more than how do we build the best winning team.’’
As underwhelming as that may seem to Jays fans who filled the Rogers Centre in 2016, Atkins’ off-season work is nowhere near complete.
The team is still hunting for two corner outfielders and the buzz around the Gaylord National Convention Center this week is that they are in the hunt for the big catch, free agent Dexter Fowler, who helped the Chicago Cubs win this year’s World Series.
And Atkins pledged that he has the green light to spend more of Rogers’ money, bloated in part by stellar attendance and TV ratings from last season.
Beyond the Jays, the case of Encarnacion is a curious one, given the dwindling number of suitors and his rejection of the big Jays offer early in free agency. You have to wonder if the popular former Jay and his agent, Paul Kinzer, overplayed their hand.
“Edwin loved Toronto,” Kinzer, told mlb.com’s John Paul Morosi on Monday. “He hoped to go back. But he waited his whole career for free agency and wanted to see what’s out there.”
Kinzer added that Encarnacion was “disappointed” with the way things played out with the Jays, especially in light of Monday’s signing of Pearce.
As for the new acquisition, there are some things to like, most notably that Pearce has experience in the American League East (with Baltimore last season), he has some plate prowess against left-handed pitching and he can play multiple positions.
“One of the things that excites us about (Pearce) is we don’t have to decide today (where he will play),” Atkins said. “Any time a player is average at more than one position, especially when it’s infield and outfield, that has value to us.”