The Blue Jays have agreed to a minor league deal with former Phillies top prospect Domonic Brown, tweets Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet.ca. The Scott Boras client will receive an invitation to Spring Training.
Brown, 28, was an All Star in 2013 when he hit 12 home runs during the month of May as part of a .272/.324/.494 campaign with 27 home runs. Aside from that one fantastic month, Brown has generally offered below average offensive production. Injuries limited him to a .228/.284/.349 line in just 204 plate appearances last season. The outfielder has also graded poorly defensively.
The Blue Jays have a strong reputation for getting the most out of their hitters. Their biggest successes include Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, although they’ve also received value from lesser players like Danny Valencia and Justin Smoak. Brown is a potential platoon option with Chris Colabello if Michael Saunders fails to stay healthy and Dalton Pompey is deemed unready. He may also serve as minor league inventory with the likes of Junior Lake, Darrell Ceciliani, and others.