Blue Jays should target Chris Owings

As the Winter Meetings approach the Blue Jays have already kicked off their offseason with a trade for Aledmys Diaz. Who else could be a good target for the Blue Jays to pursue as they look to be competitive in 2018? Chris Owings of the Arizona Diamondbacks could be a great grab in the offseason marketplace.

Chris Owings is a 26-year-old former first-round pick who has been solid for the D-Backs over the past few seasons. He has played both middle infield positions and the outfield corners since becoming a regular in Arizona the 2014 season. He is not just a regular super utility player though. He has a good enough bat to stick in the lineup for an entire season. Owings is very athletic and will find a way into a lineup card every day regardless of where he plays.

In 2014 he played in 91 games and established himself at the MLB level. He would bat .261 with fifteen doubles, six triples, and six homers while driving in twenty-six runners. In 2015 he regressed in his first full workload. He batted .227 through 147 games as his strikeout numbers boomed. He would strikeout 144 times and walked just 26 times. He was not known for taking a ton of pitchers but was not known at the time as a big strikeout guy.

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In 2016 he put it all together and changed his approach at the plate. This refined plate discipline allowed him to cut his strikeout number down to 87 in a 119 game season. This improvement translated into a better season at the dish. He batted .277 and had plenty of extra-base hits. He went on to grab 24 doubles and 11 triples. This past season was more of the same but he had some injuries that kept him to 97 games in 2017. He finished the season with a .268 average and another season with 25 doubles. Owings kicked up the power a touch in 2017 as he popped 12 and drove in a career-high 51 RBI.

So why would the Blue Jays want to pursue Owings after grabbing Aledmys Diaz the other day? The answer is having talented depth. Owings is the kind of player a team heading for a youth movement needs to stay competitive. A solid player that can play a few different positions and hit the ball hard at the plate. Owings is a special player in this regard and has the stuff that will play well with the American League East ballparks. The D-Backs home at Chase Field is known for being a great hitters park. It ranks in the top 5 of most of the categories on ESPN’s Park Factors for the 2017 season. The American League East has the majority of their ballparks rank highly on this list annually. This could only help a gap to gap doubles hitter like Owings.

If Owings is penciled into the lineup at shortstop, second base, or in the outfield you have a performer at the plate regardless. A player that cracks the ball into the power allies in the Rogers Center is what the Blue Jays should be standardizing around as target talent. A player that could make that next step with some extra power that sees the ball elevate just enough for a home run instead of the double off the wall.

Next: What to expect from Diaz

Athletic players rather then power bats can be the foundation of a crazy offense in the near future for the Toronto Blue Jays. Chris Owings could be a great target to help build this more athletic team and the Jays need to dive in on players like him.