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Four Years Ago Today:
Blue Jays sign Kendrys Morales to a 3-year, $33 million contract. I remember, at the time, it surprised me. I didn’t think we’ll be signing a DH only guy, or, at least, not until after Edwin Encarnación and Jose Bautista had signed somewhere else.
It seemed, at the time, that the Jays had decided they wouldn’t be able to sign Edwin and wanted to move fast. Moving fast turned out to be a bit of a mistake. The market for sluggers turned out to be a lot softer than we figured it would be. Had they waited a bit, they likely would have been able to sign Kendrys to a shorter contract. Or, they might have had a spot at Edwin.
Kendrys played 2 seasons as a Jay, hitting .249/.318/.442 with 49 home runs and a 0.9 bWAR, before we dumped him on the A’s. He played 34 games for Oakland before they passed him on to the Yankees, where he played another 14 games, before being released.
There was a lot made of how good he was with our younger players, becoming a mentor to some. But I don’t think that made him a good signing.
We had several posts on the signing:
And a scouting report from Max Rieper of Royals Review.
The poll at the time was generally positive.
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It isn’t the first time we’ve been wrong.
He was a likeable guy. It is too bad that it didn’t work out for us.
Also Four Years Ago:
The Jays signed Lourdes Gurriel Jr to a seven-year, $22 million contract.
This one is the far better signing. Lourdes has played 3 seasons in the majors, marred by injuries, but he’s shown a good bat. He has hit .287/.348/.534, with 42 home runs in 149 games. I’m hoping we get to see what he can do with a full season next year and the next four years.
It took a while to find his defensive position, but he’s getting better in left field. He was finalist for the Gold Glove in left (though I really don’t believe he was one of the three best at the spot). I think he’ll continue to improve on defense. Coming in on the ball, he is excellent. Going back or to his sides, he is a work in progress.