Toronto Blue Jays pending UFA’s: Re-sign or pass

Re-sign or pass on UFA’s that played on the Blue Jays during the 2020 season.

The Toronto Blue Jays enter an important offseason for many reasons. They’re expected to be major players in the free agency market as they’ve reportedly been aggressive early in the process.

Another reason why it’s a crucial offseason is because of the development and future of the team. While they made the playoffs, they are some areas of improvement needed on the team in order to be true contenders.

They need better defence as they ranked 29th in team defense. They also need some pitching, specifically in the rotation and some bullpen arms wouldn’t hurt either.

Also, they could use an impact player no matter the position as that would help push the team over the hump. Some of the names that they could be interested in are J.T. Realmuto, George Springer, D.J. LeMahieu, Trevor Bauer among others.

Before they really dip into the free-agent market though, they should take a look at their own players who are familiar to the organization in order to determine whether they should re-sign them or not.

The Blue Jays have Anthony Bass, Ken Giles, Joe Panik, Robbie Ray, Matt Shoemaker, Jonathan Villar, and Taijuan Walker.

Note: Chase Anderson was not included as the Blue Jays declined his option. While he becomes an unrestricted free agent, declining his option does not indicate a good sign that the team wants him back. Also, Travis Shaw, A.J. Cole, and Ross Stripling were not included either as they have to be tendered a contract by December 2nd. They are currently still part of the team. 

Anthony Bass

Anthony Bass was plucked off waivers a year ago after he was let go by the Seattle Mariners. When the Blue Jays brought him in, they gave him a one-year, $1.5 million deal.

With the Blue Jays, he appeared in 26 games posting a 3.51 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .189 in 25.2 innings. He also recorded seven saves when he was at a time, inserted into the closer’s role. He blew two saves and got four holds.

Bass is a pitcher who rarely relies on his fastball as he’s more of a sinkerball pitcher while mixing in a slider. In fact, he only threw one fastball all season. This is effective in keeping the ball in the yard as he only gave up two home runs in the 2020 season.

In his career, he’s appeared in 217 games which he holds a 4.32 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .253 over 373 innings pitched.

So, should the Blue Jays re-sign or pass on Bass?

Verdict: Re-sign 

Bass did really well in a Blue Jays uniform that the front office should attempt to re-sign him. While relievers are very volatile in regards to year-to-year performance, Bass seems like a good bet to carry on from his success.

In 2019, he posted a 3.56 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .179 over 44 games. This shows that he can put up good back-to-back years.

Bass is someone that can be relied on, especially late in the game and in tight situations. A deal for Bass could be something like two years, $8 million.

Ken Giles

Ken Giles stats should be ignored this season as he only lasted four games due to a lingering elbow issue that stems back from the 2019 season. Unfortunately, though, they count towards his career stats.

In four games this year, he posted a 9.82 E.R.A. with a save and only lasted 3.2 innings. What should be looked at is his 2019 stats.

In 2019, he pitched in 53 games and innings where he posted a 1.87 E.R.A. converting all but one save (23 for 24) with 83 strikeouts compared to 36 hits given up for an opponent average of .188.

Ever since he came over to the Blue Jays from the 2017 trade deadline which saw Roberto Osuna go the other way to Houston, Giles has appeared in 78 games posting a 2.83 E.R.A. in 76.1 innings pitched with 111 strikeouts and 38 saves. He’s been pretty dominant since he came north of the border.

So, should the Blue Jays re-sign or pass on Giles?

Verdict: Pass 

Unfortunately, Giles elbow woes resulted in him getting Tommy John surgery which he has already undergone. This will keep him on the sidelines for the entire 2021 season and probably at least half of 2022 as Tommy John surgery takes a long road to recovery.

As the Blue Jays are looking to contend, taking on Giles to sit out a year-and-a-half simply makes no sense. He should be able to land a two-year deal from some team though that will be in need of bullpen help. That team would most likely be a team that’s a year or two away from contending.

Joe Panik

After spending most of his career with the San Francisco Giants, the Blue Jays signed Joe Panik to a minor league deal as a depth piece.

Panik brought some experience to the Blue Jays bench as he won a World Series ring in 2014, was an all-star in 2015, and won a Gold Glove award in 2016.

This season, Panik slashed .225/.340/.300 with 27 hits and 27 strikeouts. It was a bit surprising that Panik got the same amount of hits as strikeouts as in each season prior in his career, he got a substantial amount of hits compared to the times he went down on strikes.

Panik is one of the best contact hitters in the major leagues but he simply didn’t show it with the Blue Jays.

In the field, Panik was a valuable asset. While a primary second baseman, he played both third base and shortstop this season as he expanded his versatility. He made one error this season which came as a second baseman showing that he adjusted to playing the other positions just fine.

So, should the Blue Jays re-sign or pass on Panik?

Verdict: Re-sign 

While he didn’t provide much at the plate, he provided plenty in the field. He was able to handle multiple positions on the diamond and played cleanly.

Bringing back Panik would be valuable as he would help improve the Jays defence. Perhaps over a full season in 2021, he could go back to his old ways of putting the ball in play more while striking out less.

If he enjoyed his time with the Blue Jays, he should want to come back too unless he’s able to find a starting job elsewhere which doesn’t seem likely. If he does come back, it will probably be on a minor league deal again but with incentives this time around.

Matt Shoemaker

Matt Shoemaker was coming off a fantastic injury-shortened 2019 campaign which saw him go 3-0 with a 1.57 E.R.A. while limiting hitters to an opponent average of .163 in 28.2 innings pitched.

In 2020, he threw the exact same amount of innings going 0-1 with a 4.71 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .210. You could say he took a bit of a step back in the shortened campaign.

He also started the opening game of the Wild Card round getting yanked after three innings and 35 pitches.

At a time when the Jays rotation wasn’t necessarily a strength and the team was low on pitching depth, Shoemaker was a key member of the team and was considered a leader in the clubhouse which is crucial for a young team.

So, should the Blue Jays re-sign or pass on Shoemaker?

Verdict: Re-sign 

The Jays haven’t exactly seen so much of Shoemaker as his 2019 season was cut short due to an ACL injury and the 2020 season was a short one. To be exact, he’s only made 11 starts over the past two years for the Blue Jays.

While 11 starts is far from a full load of games from a starter, he’s done relatively well in a short sample size posting a combined 3.14 E.R.A.

Shoemaker seemed to enjoy his time with the Blue Jays as he seemingly embraced the role as a leader and when discussing his contract last offseason for arbitration purposes, he was seeking a multi-year deal. Obviously part of it was to benefit himself but also because he liked being a Blue Jay.

Jonathan Villar

As Bo Bichette was out with a knee injury for a while, the Blue Jays were in need of a major league quality shortstop and they went out and got Jonathan Villar from the Miami Marlins in exchange for Griffin Conine who was a top 30 prospect in the Jays organization.

Prior to coming over to the Jays, he was slashing .259/.315/.345 with nine stolen bases. When he came to the Jays, he struggled mightily to a .188/.278/.203 slash line with 22 strikeouts in 69 at-bats but did swipe seven bags without getting caught once.

On the season as a whole, he slashed .232/.301/.292 with 16 stolen bases and got caught only five times which occurred all with the Marlins.

So, should the Blue Jays re-sign or pass on Villar?

Verdict: Re-sign 

For those that think I’m crazy, hear me out.

Villar struggled this season. No doubt. But if you look at previous seasons in his career, he was one of a few players that had a good combination of quality hitting and speed.

In 2019 with the Baltimore Orioles, he appeared in every single game slashing .274/.339/.453 with 176 hits, 24 home runs, and 40 stolen bases.

In 2016 with the Milwaukee Brewers, he slashed .285/.369/.457 with 168 hits and a ridiculous amount of stolen bases with 62 swiped bags which was the most in the league.

While he may not be the strongest defender, he can play second, third, and short which is very valuable. He can be considered a better version of Santiago Espinal.

Villar may not want to return as he’ll probably seek a starting job. Maybe the Jays can give him say $6 million to be a regular bench piece with a mutual option for a second season. If Villar can go back to his old ways, it would be a bargain deal.

Taijuan Walker

No one expected the Jays to acquire Taijuan Walker but yet, they did. The move turned out to pay huge dividends as he did really well with the Blue Jays.

Before they acquired him, he was pitching to a 4.00 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .210 with the Seattle Mariners.

He did even better with Canada’s team despite playing the season in Buffalo. With the Blue Jays, he made six starts going 2-1 with a 1.37 E.R.A. and an opponent average of .218.

On the season as a whole, he went 4-3 with a 2.70 E.R.A. with an opponent average of .214 in 53.1 innings.

While it was a good season for Walker, it was even more important for him that he stayed healthy as this was the first time since 2017 that he was on the active roster for the full duration. It works to his benefit that this occurred in a contract year.

So, should the Blue Jays re-sign or pass on Walker?

Verdict: Re-sign 

Walker did really well with the Blue Jays albeit in a very short sample size. As the Blue Jays are looking for rotation help, Walker would be a nice piece to put in the middle or back end of the starting five.

Re-signing Walker would come with risk though. He has a bit of an injury history and while he did good over 11 starts, there’s no guarantee he’d be able to do the same over a full starter’s workload which is usually 28-32 games started.

With his injury history, there’s no way Walker will accept a one-year deal especially with how he did in a Jays uniform. He will be seeking a multi-year deal and that’s what it will take to keep him with the Jays. Perhaps something like a three-year, $30 million dollar contract would work.