Toronto Blue Jays: Five Landing Spots for Edwin Encarnacion
By Jason Evans
With the recent moves the Toronto Blue jays have made, where will Edwin Encarnacion end up?
It certainly appears that the Edwin Encarnacion era in Toronto is over. The Jays added Kendrys Morales to a three year deal this week. Morales is a switch hitter who can play first and DH for the club. A switch-hitting, albeit not as good version, of Encarnacion.
The Jays certainly tried to retain Encarnacion, but it just didn’t work out. I can’t see Toronto signing both Morales and then Encarnacion too, when Encarnacion is going to be better off DH’ing more and more as he gets older.
Instead of spending big on David Price last off-season, they signed Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ. Now it appears that this season they are taking a similar approach to their offense with Morales and going into the international market and signing Lourdes Gouriel Jr. They also appear to have interest in Steve Pearce and Josh Reddick.
Morales gives the Jays a different look than they had with Encarnacion and Jose Bautista. He’ll be a switch hitter with power in a lineup that was very right-handed last season.
Don’t feel bad for Encarnacion though. He will end up with plenty of money in this free agent market as an impact bat. He’ll find a home, but it could take a while, perhaps during the Winter Meetings or after.
So where will the slugger end up? Here are five potential landing spots for the free agent.