Should the Blue Jays lock up Marco Estrada before he hits free agency?

Should the Toronto Blue Jays lock up the master of the changeup Marco Estrada before the hurler once again hits the free agent market at the conclusion of the 2017 campaign?

At the end of the upcoming season, the Blue Jays could conceivably lose two-fifths of their starting rotation as Marco Estrada and Francisco Liriano will be eligible to test the open market.

Estrada re-upped with the Blue Jays on a two-year/ $26 million pact after a successful 2015 campaign. The native of Mexico filed for free agency but signed a team friendly deal in mid-November to return to the Jays.

The right-hander will turn 34 years of age later this summer and will be undoubtedly be seeking a multi-year contract from any possible suitors. The Jays would be smart to approach Estrada now before the start of the season to exchange numbers and see where his camp at TWC Sports is positioned dollar wise.

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Estrada was very vocal the last time around that Toronto was where he wanted to play and wasted no time signing on the dotted line. Obviously, there is some risk bringing back the hurler as he labored all last season with a wonky back however he still managed to grind out a respectable 3.48 earned run average in 29 starts.

Since being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers for Adam Lind, Estrada has accumulated a WAR of seven over two seasons and has effectively mastered his changeup to be one of the best in the majors.

The nine-year MLB veteran has been money in the postseason for the Jays pitching in some of their most crucial games over the last two seasons. In six October starts Estrada has compiled an outstanding 1.96 earned run average allowing only 10 runs in 41.2 innings of work.

A few decent comparisons for market value would be:

Rich Hill-3 year/$48 million deal with the Dodgers in 2016.

Scott Kazmir– 3 year/ $48 million deal with Astros in 2015.

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The Blue Jays have arguably one of the best rotations in baseball this season and Estrada is a big part of that accolade. So, would you be comfortable with the Blue Jays signing Estrada to a three-year deal in the neighborhood of $48 million to keep the hurler north of the border?