The Milwaukee Brewers have moved quickly to fill their hole at first base this offseason, acquiring former Blue Jay Adam Lind in exchange for long reliever Marco Estrada.
According to source: #BlueJays receive RHP Marco Estrada from #Brewers For Adam Lind
— . (@AWalksOfficial) November 1, 2014
Toronto just picked up a $7.5 million option on Lind for 2015, and the Brewers will now have him at that salary. Milwaukee also has an $8 million club option for Lind in 2016, making him more than a rental. In 2014, he hit .321/.381/.479 with six homers in 96 games, serving two separate stints on the DL thanks to lower back tightness and a fractured right foot.
Milwaukee didn’t get much production out of their first basemen in 2014. The position hit a cumulative .204/.287/.356, better than just the Rangers and Astros in all of baseball. Veterans Mark Reynolds and Lyle Overbay got the bulk of the playing time there, and both are free agents this winter. However, they’re likely going to need a caddy for Lind at first – for his career, he’s hit a miserable .212/.257/.331 against southpaws.
The return for the Jays isn’t much. Estrada is a 31-year old that was non-tender bait this winter, pitching to a 4.36 ERA in 150 2/3 innings. He lacks the ability to keep the ball in the park, giving up 85 homers in 541 career innings. That 1.41 HR/9 is one of the ten worst marks in baseball over the last decade among pitchers with at least 500 innings. And now, he’s heading to Rogers Centre, where zero gravity may in fact be in effect.
All in all, a solid haul for Milwaukee, as they fill a void at first base without spending too much money. As for the Jays, this looks like mainly a salary dump. Edwin Encarnacion actually played more innings at first than Lind in each of the past three seasons, so they’re essentially just swapping his caddy from Lind to embattled ex-Mariner Justin Smoak. I’m sure the Jays will find a suitable option to serve as their primary DH as well, but mainly, this looked less like a “get rid of Adam Lind” situation and more of a “get rid of Adam Lind’s salary while picking up someone who might help in 2015” situation.
