The Toronto Blue Jays seemingly pulled one of the best hitters off of the trade market today by giving DH Edwin Encarnacion a three-year, $27 million extension. The deal also has a $10 million option for 2016.
Encarnacion is having one of the best years of his career so far in 2012, homering 23 times with a .947 OPS. Encarnacion has primarily been Toronto's DH this year, but has also gotten playing time at first base due to the struggles of Adam Lind. The contract will take the 29 year-old Encarnacion through his age 32 season, with the option possibly covering his age 33 year. This has far and away been the best year of his career, with Encarnacion being pulled from third base, where he was a putrid defender.
Toronto's DH was making $3.5 million this year, and was scheduled to hit free agency after the season. This extension just pulls another strong bat off of a weak free agent market, and the value of the deal is much lower than what David Ortiz, Adam Dunn, and Victor Martinez are making this year, all of whom are older than Encarnacion.
This is a pretty slick deal for the Blue Jays, locking up a solid bat through his prime years while not overpaying him. Alex Anthopolous is going to be a very interesting GM to watch over the next 19 days.
Photo courtesy of Daylife.com
