Blue Jays Could Tilt AL East Balance Of Power By Signing Both George Springer And Michael Brantley

With several swift strokes of the pen, the Toronto Blue Jays may have tilted the balance of power in the American League East.

Hours after signing pitchers Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood, the Jays seemed on the verge of landing both George Springer, a slugging center-fielder widely regarded as the best free agent available this winter, and former Houston teammate Michael Brantley, a left-handed contact hitter likely to play left field.

Springer, a 31-year-old right-handed hitter, got a reported six-year, $150 million deal that is the largest in both years and dollars of any signed this winter, while Brantley, 34, was reportedly negotiating a three-year deal with terms not immediately divulged.

Both pitchers got one-year deals, with Chatwood signing for $3 million and Yates, who battled bone chips in his pitching elbow last year, getting a $5.5 pact bolstered by an estimated $4.5 million in performance bonuses, according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.

For a team that played all of its 2020 home games in Buffalo because of Canadian pandemic protocols, those were huge investments in an uncertain future. With the pandemic still raging in the United States, the Jays may have to find a home-away-from-home again in 2021. And it’s still possible that both spring training and the scheduled 162-game season could be postponed, shortened, or both.

But Toronto, which has taken just one division crown (2015) since winning consecutive World Series in 1992-93, is not taking a wait-and-see approach.

The only Canadian club in the majors has now made more major moves in a week than all four of its American League East rivals as a group this winter. Landing Springer, also courted heavily by the New York Mets, is a major coup.

A three-time All-Star who won Most Valuable Player honors in the 2017 World Series, Springer is a .270 career hitter with 174 regular-season homers and another 19, fourth on the lifetime list, in postseason play. He helped the Astros, his only team to date, win a pair of pennants.

The Blue Jays outlasted the New York Mets, now owned by billionaire Steve Cohen, in a bidding war for Springer, who lives in Connecticut. But the Jays offered more in their bid to return to the World Series for the first time since 1993. Toronto lost its last three playoff appearances, in 2015, 2016, and 2020 (the last two as a wild-card).

Brantley, a left-handed contact hitter who spent his first 10 seasons in Cleveland before moving to the Houston Astros as a free agent, is a .297 career hitter with a .354 on-base percentage. He hit a career-best 22 of his 114 home runs in 2019 but could do considerably better if he joins the Jays and the team returns to the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre. Since 2014, he’s averaged one strikeout per every 10.1 at-bats.

Like Brantley, Springer also hit his power peak in 2019, the last complete season before the virus reduced the baseball schedule from 162 to 60 games. His 39-homer output that year followed three consecutive 100-RBI campaigns.

Chatwood, 31, is a right-handed starting pitcher with a 51-57 record and 4.75 earned run average – the result of five seasons in the Mile-High City of Denver. He’s had occasional bouts of wildness, even leading the National League with 95 walks for the Chicago Cubs in 2018. The Jays believe both he and Yates are healthy again after battling a variety of injuries last year.

Yates, now 34, led the NL in saves two years ago when he posted a 1.19 ERA and converted 41 of 45 save chances for San Diego, which had hoped to re-sign him.

Adding such experienced veterans as Springer (and possibly Brantley) to a young lineup led by Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., Cavan Biggio, and Bo Bichette gives the Blue Jays a formidable batting order capable of competing against the Tampa Bay Rays, who won the American League East last year, as well as the big-market New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox.

With spring training less than a month away, however, the only major move made by the Yankees has been the re-signing of second baseman DJ LeMahieu, the American League’s batting champion.

Wary of exceeding the $210 million luxury tax on payrolls, the Yankees have been slow to fill the holes created by the free agent exodus of starting pitchers Masahiro Tanaka, J.A. Happ, and James Paxton. The Yankees went 33-27 last year to finish second, seven games behind Tampa Bay and one game ahead of Toronto.

The Red Sox, on the other hand, plunged from third to last after trading Mookie Betts, their biggest star, to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February. Boston went 24-36, leaving the team 16 games from the top of the division and one behind the young, inexperienced Baltimore Orioles. Boston added free-agent outfielder Hunter Renfroe and retained left-handed starter Martin Perez but otherwise could lose more than it adds, especially if free-agent center-fielder Jackie Bradley, Jr. takes his Gold Glove elsewhere.

Tampa Bay, a low-budget club that banks on unorthodox policies, took a double hit by trading Blake Snell, a former Cy Young Award winner, to the San Diego Padres for prospects and watching fellow starter Charlie Morton, another post-season star, jump to the Atlanta Braves on the open market. On the plus side, however, the team kept catcher Mike Zunino from peddling his talents elsewhere.

With the Orioles still treading water, the Jays are jockeying for a far better finish. In addition to adding Springer and Chatwood – both clients of Excel Sports Management – and Yates, represented by Beverly Hills Sports Council, they re-signed left-handed starter Robbie Ray, acquired from Arizona last summer. But they may need to retain or replace fellow starter Taijuan Walker, who became a free agent.

With Springer set for center and Brantley in left if he signs, the Jays would have an outfield overstock that also includes Teoscar Hernandez, coming off his best year, plus Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Randal Grichuk, and Derek Fisher. The infield, from third to first, could be Guerrero, Bichette, Biggio, and Rowdy Tellez, though Gurriel or Guerrero could also see considerable action at first.

Unless the Jays sign a veteran designated hitter, they should find a DH among their five catchers and six outfielders. They should also find ample trade bait for pitching help.

As February approaches, the Toronto rotation includes Hyun-Jin Ryu, Ray, Chatwood, Tanner Roark, and blue-chip rookie Nate Pearson, who made four starts late last year. Yates replaces Ken Giles, last year’s closer.

Not content to rest on their laurels, Jays president Mark Shapiro, the recipient of a five-year contract extension last week, has already met with Trevor Bauer, the top remaining free-agent starting pitcher. Shapiro was general manager of the Indians when Cleveland acquired Bauer from Arizona.

With so many Jays at the beginning of their careers, the team payroll remains well below the $210 million luxury tax level and allows it to return to the free-agent market.