After a disappointing end to the 2019/2020 season, the Blue Jays have made a splash in the FA market with the the marquee signings of George Springer ($150-million for six-years) and Marcus Semien ($18 million, one year).
Springer, 31, will plug into an already stacked offensive lineup with Teoscar Hernandez, Lordes Gurriel Jr., Bo Bichette, Cavan Biggio, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The odd man out is Randal Grichuk, who is likely to be traded before Ryu toes the rubber on April 28.
Springer had a .265 AVG, hit 14 HRs, and droved in 342 runs (RBI’s) in last years shortened season. Most of Springer’s offensive numbers were lower last year, for example his BA in 2020 was lower than his career average (.270 BA), while his RBI total was lower on a per-game basis (as a result of the shortened season). However, this could be due to his Houston teammates who batted in font of him, i.e. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, having very poor offensive years and not getting on base nearly as much. All in, Springer ended 13th in AL MVP voting, finishing one spot behind new teammate, Hyu jin-Ryu.
Marcus Semien, who played with the Oakland Athletics last year, another elite offensive player. Semien also witnessed some regression in his batting average (.223 vs. .254 career average) and in home runs (only 7 HR in 2020 vs. 33 in 2019). Though. some of these numbers can be attributed to the shortened season and limited offseason. What the Blue Jays are getting is durability, as Marcus played in all 162 games in 2019 and 159 the season before (2018).
The issue we have with Semien is his position. Traditionally, Marcus plays SS (since 2014). Currently, the Jays have a top 10 SS on their roster in Bo Bichette, who has never played any other position on the diamond (has played 7 games at DH). Montoya will likely want Marcus to slot in at 3B, which was were he played when he made his debut for the White Sox in 2014. Biggio will remain at second base, while Guerrero Jr. can slot in at 1B. Though Guerrero Jr’s ability to play 1B at a high level has yet to be seen.
Both Springer and Siemen will greatly benefit the Blue Jay’s offense going into 2021, who ranked 8th in the league in both HR’s and RBI’s last year, while 7th in total runs. The hope would be that these new acquisitions push the Blue Jays into the top 5.
While much remains to be desired on the pitching aspect of the team (the Blue Jays had a team 4.60 ERA in 2020, good for 17th), the Blue Jays offense is now looking eerily similar to the 2016 team, which made it to the AL Championship Series before losing to Cleveland (maybe better).
If Ryu can continue his strong pitching into 2021 (3rd in AL Cy Young voting in 2020 with a 2.69 ERA), along with the help of recent signings Steven Matz to bolster the rotation and Kirby Yates to help reinforce the bullpen (led MLB ins saves in 2019), the team will be the remain the dark horse of the AL East.
While the Toronto Raptors and Maple Leaf’s get most of the media coverage in Toronto, the blue bombers have quietly been building a strong roster this off-season. After a tumulus 2019/2020 season that ended with a Wild Card loss against eventual World Series runner ups, there is plenty to be excited about for Canadian baseball fans going in 2021 the season.
Works Cited:
https://www.tsn.ca/blue-jays-sign-pitcher-tyler-chatwood-to-one-year-3-million-deal-1.1580840
https://www.espn.com/mlb/stats/team/_/table/batting/sort/runs/dir/desc
https://www.baseball-reference.com/players/s/semiema01.shtml
https://www.baseball-reference.com/awards/awards_2020.shtml#all_AL_MVP_voting
https://www.sportsnet.ca/mlb/article/blue-jays-officially-announce-marcus-semien-signing/