Jays deal means end of Cabrera era in Toronto
Melky Cabrera will not be back with the Toronto Blue Jays, while the club’s starting rotation is going to skew very young. That is the upshot of a trade consummated Wednesday evening, which sent left-handed starter J.A. Happ to Seattle for outfielder Michael Saunders, a native of Victoria.
The Blue Jays envision Saunders as their full-time starter in left field, playing alongside Jose Bautista in right and a mystery man in centre — Dalton Pompey, Kevin Pillar and Ezequiel Carrera, signed to a minor-league deal on Wednesday, are the top candidates, although the team could make another move to shore up the position.
Nonetheless, left field is Saunders’ spot.
“We’ve been talking on and off about Saunders for years at various times,” Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said Wednesday. “Jack (Zduriencik, Seattle’s general manager) and I have talked a ton and never been able to reach an agreement. Especially with Melky (Cabrera) being a free agent and having a need in left, he’s a guy that we continued to talk about. We think there’s upside with the bat. He’s already a pretty good offensive player. And we love the fact that we can have a plus defensive guy on a corner as well.
“We didn’t feel good at all about the free-agent options in left field — either because players have other places that they’d rather play first, the asking price might not fit with what we’re trying to do, the years (of the contract). There are a number of things that come into it.”
That includes Cabrera, who hit .301 with 16 home runs last year in his second season with the Blue Jays. His time with the team was likely over once the Blue Jays signed catcher Russell Martin to a five-year, $82-million US deal, but the Saunders deal made it more or less official.
Saunders, who played just 78 games last year because of an oblique strain, hit .273 with eight home runs in 2014. In 2012, he hit .247 with 19 homers and stole 21 bases. After making $2.3-million US last season, Saunders is arbitration eligible for the next two seasons, with the website MLBTradeRumours.com estimating his 2015 salary at $2.9-million US. At the start of November, the Blue Jays exercised the option in Happ’s contract that guarantees him $6.7-million US in 2015. He will become a free agent after the season.
The Blue Jays also signed Justin Smoak to a one-year, $1-million US contract. The Blue Jays claimed Smoak, a switch-hitting first baseman, off of waivers in October, but non-tendered him on Tuesday, making him a free agent. The Jays also declined to retain the rights to Andy Dirks and John Mayberry Jr., at Tuesday night’s non-tender deadline.
Smoak, who turns 28 on Friday, had his best year in 2013 with Seattle, when he hit 19 home runs and drove in 50 runs, despite hitting just .238. Smoak played in just 80 games last season, hitting seven home runs but batting just .202.
However, Smoak is seen as an above-average defensive first baseman, likely allowing Edwin Encarnacion to be the designated hitter more often this season. Despite having nearly equal batting averages against left-handed and righthanded pitchers, the Blue Jays will likely use Smoak primarily against righties. Check out today’s Ottawa Citizen tablet edition.