Blue Jays: Free agent bench options aplenty

The Toronto Blue Jays among all their other offseason tasks will have to construct a versatile yet experienced bench of role players who can provide leadership when not contributing on the field.

The gritty role players are often overlooked on a major league squad however if you scroll through the past World Series Champions rosters they all had viable role players who could step in and contribute on any given Sunday. The Blue Jays notoriously have lacked a quality bench but here are a few available options who could lend a hand in 2018.

The Blue Jays will in all likelihood sign a free agent backstop to share the catching duties with Russell Martin. Aside from that, Darwin Barney is a free agent and his future with the club is still uncertain while Ezequiel Carrera is pencilled in for next season.

Former Blue Jays’ Adam Lind and Brett Lawrie are both free agents possible searching for a new old home. Lind has spent last season with the Washington Nationals seeing action in 116 games for the Nats. The first baseman also split time in left field and managed to hit .303/.362/.513 with 14 home runs in 301 plate appearances. The 34-year old is a career .288 hitter versus right-handed pitching and earned a minuscule $500,000 for his services in 2017.

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Lawrie was released by the Chicago White Sox in March and opted to sit out the remainder of the 2017 campaign to recover from a nagging foot injury he apparently suffered from bad orthotics. Blue Jays faithful are very familiar with the 27-year old who tends to have a love/hate relationship with fans but there is no questioning the talent and athletic ability Lawrie possesses if he can stay healthy. Lawrie is a career .261/.315/.419 with 71 home runs in 581 career games. The Canadian infielder has split time between second and third base in the majors.

Jayson Werth will test his luck in free agency after spending the last seven season with the Nationals. Father time has definitely caught up with the 38-year old Werth, however, the outfielder could still be a force to be reckoned with off the bench. The bearded wonder has 229 career home runs and is a year removed from a 21 homer campaign in 2016.

Dodgers outfielder Andre Ethier intends to play in 2018 after there was recent speculation the veteran may hang them up. Ethier would also be a possible option off the bench or a veteran injury replacement in the short term when needed. Ethier has managed only 38 games in the past two seasons but did hit .294/.366/.486 with 14 round trippers in 2015.

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Other notable free agents with some time under their belt who could be had on the cheap are the likes of Mark Reynolds, Curtis Granderson, Austin Jackson and Melky Cabrera respectively. Who would you like to see the Jays add for the 2018 bench, chime in the comments below?

The Toronto Blue Jays among all their other offseason tasks will have to construct a versatile yet experienced bench of role players who can provide leadership when not contributing on the field.

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