The Blue Jays will exercise their $8MM club option on first baseman Justin Smoak, reports MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link). The decision to do so over a $250K buyout seemed rather straightforward on the heels of a second consecutive strong season for the switch-hitting slugger.
[Related: Toronto Blue Jays depth chart]
Smoak, 32 in December, broke out with a massive .270/.355/.529 batting line and 38 homers in 2017, and while he didn’t quite replicate that production in 2018, he still enjoyed a strong performance at the plate. In 594 plate appearances, he hit .242/.350/.457 with 25 big flies and 34 doubles in the heart of the Toronto batting order.
Smoak’s initial two-year, $8.5MM extension with the Blue Jays back in the summer of 2016 drew some criticism but ultimately proved to be a feather in the cap of GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro. His option value jumped from $6MM to $8MM this season when he reached a combined total of 1100 PAs between the 2017-18 seasons, and he’ll now give the Jays either an affordable middle-of-the-order bat for the 2019 season or an interesting trade chip to market to other clubs this winter or next summer. While slugging first basemen generally haven’t been valued as much in recent seasons as they were even five years ago, Smoak still ranks among the game’s most productive hitters over the past two seasons and is a legitimate bargain at that modest one-year commitment.
This makes perfect sense! If the Cleveland Duo can make any decent decisions past this one, they’ll pick up some pitching this winter for Smoaky and promote Tellez to 1st base duties…provided he “wins” the job in the Spring!
I certainly hope decisions aren’t being made based on exhibition games in April
And since is legal to SMOAK in canada!!
Legal to SMOAK in Maine too but he’d have to be a Seadog.
Nice work Heyman. Your source barely hung up the phone before Smoak’s option was exercised.
The only thing that matters watching the Jays is if they trade/sign/rule 5 elite pitching and middle of the order talent like Dombrowski did when he took over Boston.. The Jays need a bonifide #1 and #2 and a few flamethrowers in the bullpen. If they don’t do that or acquire some elite middle of the order talent, the 2019 season is just window dressing.
Wait….you think 2019 is supposed to be competitive?! Literally no one is making that claim in Toronto. #scoutseyes
As an example, Dombrowski took over in Boston in Aug 2015[ and Boston sucked at the time liked the Jays did when it was first called to rebuild at the end of 2016.]
Within 4 months he acquired Kimbrel for 4 prospects and opened the bank for price. The next year Boston won 93 games. Is Shapiro going to do similar this year?
If we do that math it took DD less than a year for the Sox to be competative again and 3 years to WIN the world series.
In my #Scoutseyes, Shapiro has ALREADY had 2 years of rebuild and now he and Atkins are spewing there are 3 more years to go.
The Jays need an elite GM/Pres to reach an elite level. Dombrowski started immediately with the big moves and so should competent Blue Jays Mgmt.
Dombrowski fell over backward into the deepest collection of young talent in MLB.
Getting Sale was a great move – but he could only do that because the Red Sox were stacked, and the White Sox were stupid.
He’s an absolutely terrible GM who has squandered away his prospect capital on frequently questionable trades.
Did his team win the World Series? Yes! But this could have been a Boston dynasty.
Boston had to sign JD Martinez to put themselves over the top. And trade for both Pearce and Eovaldi. Sorry but I don’t see your “dynasty” argument.
Aside from the Thornburg deal with Milwaukee, are we missing awful trades (not signings) by Dombrowski to make him so terrible?
2019 is definitely a transition year. I’d like to see the Jays sign Trevor Rosenthal/Nate Eovaldi. They’re in a position to be less risk averse with their staff this year. Hopefully Aaron and Marcus can be healthy contributors, rebuild their value across the industry.
Funny you mention Eovaldi, because despite the Jays not winning the next two years I wouldn’t mind seeing the Jays taking a chance on Nate. Rosenthal too. 1 year deal, trade him to a contender at the deadline.
Has Rosenthal even worked out for teams yet?
Nate is probably receiving a 3 or 4 year deal, maybe for as much as 13 million a year. So he is no longer a buy low canidate.
agreed. His post season success will result in a very nice 3-4 year deal. My guess is 4/60
Nate’s definitely getting 4. Would not be surprised if a team drops 5-years despite the injuries previously. His stock is on the rise.
Smoakie should have a bit more value than some of the other slugging 1B’s from the past few years based on his reasonable 1 year deal and the fact that he’s a very good defensive one bagger.
If the Jays could get a team’s 8th to 10th prospect, they should jump. Maybe the Yanks would make sense. They’re being tied to Machado and Harper, but they don’t have a real need in either of their positions, and each will take funds away from their real area of need, pitching. Their 1B position was their weakest last year. Adding a quality bat and defender while still leaving enough money for pitching is what the Bombers should be looking at.
St. Louis would be another good spot.
Thinking Twins, Mariners, Rockies, Astros, Yankees, Rays all have to be on the Jays “to call” list. Doubtful on St Louis. Moving Carp to 3B is probably not on their to do list.
I’m happy with this.
I do not like it , unless they have had some kind of trade interest in him. It makes sense from a fan’s perspective since Justin is very popular in Toronto, almost the face of the franchise . Maybe the White Sox can just let Abreau walk and trade one of their young SP for him. They could always trade him in July if no offers are received this winter.
I mean, it also makes sense from a stats perspective. $8m isn’t nothing, but Smoak clearly provides great value at that price – and he gives them a potential trade chip.
Declining his options should have resulted in immediate firing of the GM, since that would have been ridiculously stupid.
In normal circumstances declining would be stupid. However the Jays have no At bats for Tulo and owe him 20 million in 2019, and 29 million in 2020-21. Also Russell Martin is owed 20 million in 2019. First base is an option for both these two in 2019 and for Tulo DH in 2020 and 2021. Still it probably was not easy to have a team commit to him for 8 million in a trade until later in the winter. Someone may want to take him in the winter meetings. Do not expect much back.
no mention of Smoak’s defence…excellent glove…saved a lot of infielder’s errors…
Dombrowski and Shapiero ought to compete for best hair. Mark has that obviously natural hairline. Dave has that powdery Brahman lid. Legends.