According to ESPN’s Amy K. Nelson, the Blue Jays have signed Matt Stairs to a two-year, $3.5MM deal. The price seems about right. J.P. Ricciardi has predicted a quite offseason, so we may not see much else.
Nelson says the plan is for Stairs to mainly platoon with Adam Lind in left field. That seems to leave Reed Johnson as a non-tender candidate. The arbitration-eligible Johnson made $3.075MM in 2007 but his a miserable .236/.305/.320 in 275 ABs. That was a far cry from his ’06 performance of .317/.388/.477. It should be noted that Johnson had back surgery in April, which probably explains the decline.
