Edwin now in Cleveland

Thursday, December 22 2016 @ 11:57 PM EST

Yup, he's gone. 3 years $55 mil with a $25 mil option ($5 mil buyout). If year 4 isn't taken then he gets a total of $60 mil. If all 4 years happen he makes $80 mil just like the Jays offered.

So here is a brief history of Encarnacion....

• June 5, 2000: Drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 9th round of the 2000 amateur draft. Player signed June 12, 2000.
• June 15, 2001: Traded by the Texas Rangers with Ruben Mateo to the Cincinnati Reds for Rob Bell.
• July 31, 2009: Traded by the Cincinnati Reds with Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart to the Toronto Blue Jays for Scott Rolen.
• November 12, 2010: Selected off waivers by the Oakland Athletics from the Toronto Blue Jays.
• December 16, 2010: Signed as a Free Agent with the Toronto Blue Jays. (14 days after becoming a free agent when Oakland decided not to offer him a contract)
• December 23, 2016: Signed as a Free Agent with Cleveland

• Edwin comes here... comments
  • I will be disappointed if the return is Encarnacion.
  • If there's a baseball god it's Alonso coming back. If there isn't it's Encarnacion, which would be a massive mistake. I'd rather watch Bautista play 3B.
  • i too would rather have bautista than encarnacion...
  • EE is not useless, but he's not as good as rolen at anything
  • My guess would be that you have Bautista/EE share 3B for the rest of the year and pray that Ahrens turns it around.
  • RhyZa: I must be the only one who likes this trade. 2 B- prospects, and Encarnacion is a good haul to me.
  • Thomas: I'd rather just have received the two arms than Encarnacion, as well.
  • Cincinnati's mlb.com beat writer Mark Sheldon writes: "Encarnacion was pretty upset when he was told."
  • I see nothing to like about EE
  • Encarnacion is terrible...I'm not sure why the Jays would want him. (another thread)
  • Sadly I didn't say anything in that thread (wonder if I wasn't on the box at that point)
  • Everyone pretty much was hoping Yonder Alonso was in the deal and were disappointed he wasn't. He has 5.9 lifetime WAR, never reaching 2 in any season
• Encarnacion claimed off waivers
  • Sigh - I think EE could turn out to be our biggest source of regret, maybe not at the Pittsburgh level, but near enough.
  • I think Encarnacion had a reasonable shot at 30 HR's if he had stayed with Toronto next year.
  • EE could hit 30 homeruns in the Polo Grounds
  • Updating my earlier comment, EE made $4.75m in 2010 and was looking at making $6-$7m in 2011 through arbitration. At that salary he is definitely not a bargain.
  • At a soon to be 28, Encarnacion is what he is. That is a poor fielding, home run dependent hitter than no longer shows the ability to consistently get on base with any regularity.
  • I am not saying that is what they should do (sign Beltre), but just feel that when all is said and done, Encarnacion is not a part of the future of this club is ultimately one thing to the Jays - replaceable.
• Edwin back
  • My POV at the time - I see it as much like the signing of Bautista a few times over the past years - basically you sign a guy with tons of potential that hasn't been reached, who can play 3B in a pinch but is better suited to 1B/LF/RF/DH (I suspect EE could handle LF/RF if given a shot). He is cheap, and can be released without fear if something better comes along mid-season.

346 comments

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