Blue Jays take a low risk with Curtis Granderson signing

The Blue Jays signed Curtis Granderson to a one year, five million dollar deal on Monday evening. It’s a low risk signing for Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro.

The Blue Jays finally added a piece to their outfield picture, inking Curtis Granderson to a one year, five million dollar deal on Monday night. The news was first reported by Ken Rosenthal and is pending a physical, and Blue Jays fans and writers are already starting to react one way or another.

In the grand scheme of things, Granderson represents a pretty safe signing for Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro, who will presumably platoon in left field with Steve Pearce, at least as the roster is currently constructed. What it means for Teoscar Hernandez, Ezequiel Carrera, and others remains to be seen, but at the very least the Blue Jays added a veteran with a long history of success.

Granderson hit .212/.323/.452 last season, while also adding 26 home runs 64 RBI, and earning a 1.5 bWAR rating. The batting average is a little troubling, but Granderson also greatly struggled after getting traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, hitting just .161 in 96 at bats in Dodger blue. He was only hitting .228 at the time of the trade, but still, those numbers didn’t help matters.

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He doesn’t have much speed these days, but Granderson should be a better baserunner than a lot of the regulars the Blue Jays have had clogging up the base paths in recent years. He was still versatile enough to appear at all three outfield positions last year as well, so he could cover centre in a pinch if Kevin Pillar needed a day off, or had a short stint on the disabled list or something.

At just five million dollars, the signing also allows the Blue Jays to continue to add in other areas, or maybe even another outfielder. It has been widely assumed that they had somewhere in the neighbourhood of 20 million to work with prior to the Granderson signing, so if there is still 15 million or more to bring in additional players, it could mean that Atkins and Shapiro are looking to significantly upgrade the rotation, or even bring in another bat.

It may not be the sexiest of signings, and will hardly satisfy a hungry fan base in Toronto, but for five million Granderson could be a worthwhile addition. He’s widely for his community work, contributions to charity, and as a positive clubhouse presence. If the Blue Jays do roll with Teoscar Hernandez and or eventually Anthony Alford in the outfield this year, he’ll definitely provide a positive veteran influence to learn from for the youngsters.

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