Toronto Blue Jays have eye on Gold Glove second baseman

The Toronto Blue Jays reportedly have interest in free-agent Gold Glove second baseman Kolten Wong.

According to Bob Elliott of the Canadian Baseball Network, the Blue Jays may look to Kolten Wong to shore up their infield defence for the 2021 season and beyond. The 30-year old reportedly has already turned down a multi-year offer to return to St. Louis.

Wong has taken home the National League Gold Glove honour the past two seasons including 2020. The defensive specialist would provide the Blue Jays with some positional flexibility in regards to Cavan Biggio who in all likelihood would become an outfielder.

The Blue Jays offseason mantra was to improve their overall team defence and the addition of Wong would definitely go a long way in attaining that goal.

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Wong can also provide some upside with the lumber as well while adding some much-needed speed to their lineup. In 2020, the second baseman hit .265/.350/.326 with one homer and five stolen bases in 53 games.

He was much better offensively in 2019 hitting .285/.361/.423 with 11 homers and 24 stolen bases in 28 attempts while accumulating an impressive 5.2 WAR in 148 games. The former 1st round selection of the 2011 amateur draft has spent his entire eight-year career with the Cardinals.

MLB Trade Rumors predicted that Wong would sign a two-year/$16 million dollar pact with the Boston Red Son in their annual Top 50 MLB Free Agent Predictions. The site ranked Wong as the 25th best available free agent this offseason. Wong earned $10,250,000 million last season, however, the Cardinals declined to pick up his $12.5 million dollar option for the 2021 campaign.

Elliott also tweeted yesterday that the Blue Jays had an interest in veteran pitcher Drew Smyly who ended up signing a one-year/ $11 million dollar deal with the Atlanta Braves. The 31-year old made seven appearances for the San Francisco Giants last season compiling a 3.42 earned run average in 26.1 innings of work.

There was speculation the Jays were also close to landing pitcher Kevin Gausman before he accepted his qualifying offer from those same Giants.

There is no questioning the front office is actively attempting to better the product on the field as they search for upgrades. Wong would be a nice addition while adding some defensive stability to the infield, hopefully, they can get it done.