Blue Jays: Josh Harrison rumours makes a lot of sense

According to a report from MLBtraderumors.com, the Blue Jays are among the teams interested in Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Now that the Winter Meetings are here, and the Shohei Ohtani and Giancarlo Stanton situations have been resolved, expect things to get a lot more interesting when it comes to free agent news. The teams that were in on those respective sweepstakes now know where they stand, and can proceed however they see fit.

For the Blue Jays, they’ve still got plenty of work to do despite striking early with a trade to acquire Aledmys Diaz of the St. Louis Cardinals. GM Ross Atkins talked frequently about how middle infield depth was the priority, and it was the first area he addressed in offseason moves.

According to both the general manager and the rumour mill, the Blue Jays would like to shore up the position even further. Atkins has said as much, and it would be wise considering that Troy Tulowitzki and Devon Travis, the expected starters, combined to play just 116 games last year. You have to prepare for the duo to miss time, even simultaneously, and it sounds like the front office is doing just that.

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Which is why Sunday’s rumour according to MLBtraderumors.com that the Blue Jays are interested in Josh Harrison of the Pittsburgh Pirates makes so much sense. He’s a versatile player with a great deal of experience at second base, and would be a great fit if and when the need arises due to injury.

He’s also a great fit for a number of other reasons as well. Harrison has had fairly extensive experience at second base, third base, and in the outfield, which would be a great asset to the Blue Jays. For instance, when Devon Travis is healthy and in the lineup at second base, Harrison could be a lineup regular in the outfield. In the event of an inevitable injury, he could slide into second base and the Blue Jays could utilize their minor league outfield depth.

Harrison would also be a reasonable fit at the top of the lineup, at least somewhat resembling a leadoff type. In 2017, he slashed .272/.339/.432 with 16 home runs, 47 RBI, and 12 stolen bases. He’s not a speed demon by any means, but he would offer a little bit of quickness to the Blue Jays offence, something that’s greatly lacking these days. His 3.3 bWAR would be a welcome addition to the Blue Jays as well, especially with his ability to bounce around. He would be capable of manning third base if Josh Donaldson were to miss any significant time as well, which has value.

The 30 year old has three years and 32 million remaining on his current deal, assuming the options for 2019 and 2020 are exercised. He’ll make 10 million in 2018, and then will get a raise to 10.5 in 2019, and 11.5 in 2020, which could also move up by a million in those last two years if he garners significant MVP consideration.

Other than the ability to play shortstop, he fits almost all of Ross Atkins’ description for the type of player they could use, and theoretically checks off a couple boxes. With him on the roster, the Blue Jays could proceed with their outfield picture somewhat set up, and know that between Diaz and Harrison, the infield would have a potential second unit ready to go in case of injury as well. With a price tag of just 10 million for next year, it would give the Blue Jays some room to operate in pursuit of pitching and potentially a back-up catcher.

It’s hard to say what the Pirates’ asking price might be at this stage of the game, but as long as it’s somewhat reasonable (and assuming they want to deal him at all), then I believe Harrison is a solid fit for the roster in 2018, and for the short term future.

Next: Blue Jays need to snag a big fish from the Marlins