Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet reports that there is “mutual interest” between the Blue Jays and Edwin Encarnación.
A reunion would make some sense in that the Blue Jays currently have no first baseman -- their last one, Justin Smoak, just signed a deal with Milwaukee -- and given that Encarnación has such a great history in Toronto.
He’ll be 37 next month, but he hit .249/.325/.531 with 34 homers and 86 RBI for Seattle and New York last year. In his eight years with the Blue Jays he hit .268/.355/.522 with 239 homers while making three All-Star teams and getting some downballot MVP support at time. That kind of resume, and what seems to be left in the tank, seems like a perfect fit for a team looking to draw some fans, continue its rebuild, and get some decent short-term production in the process.
If they can’t make it work with Encarnación, Eric Thames -- who could be a reasonably facsimile of Smoak, one imagines -- is available. As is Travis Shaw, who has spent a fair amount of time at first.
