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Every Single 2020 Free Agent the Blue Jays could be Interested in

By Reuben Gasee

TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 29: General manager Ross Atkins of the Toronto Blue Jays poses with new manager Charlie Montoyo who was introduced to members of the media and president Mark Shapiro on October 29, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images)
TORONTO, ON - OCTOBER 29: General manager Ross Atkins of the Toronto Blue Jays poses with new manager Charlie Montoyo who was introduced to members of the media and president Mark Shapiro on October 29, 2018 in Toronto, Canada. (Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images) /
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BOSTON, MA – SEPTEMBER 4: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19 of the Boston Red Sox makes a leaping catch during the sixth inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 4, 2020 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MA – SEPTEMBER 4: Jackie Bradley Jr. #19 of the Boston Red Sox makes a leaping catch during the sixth inning of a game against the Toronto Blue Jays on September 4, 2020 at Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The 2020 season had been postponed since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (Photo by Billie Weiss/Boston Red Sox/Getty Images) /

Jackie Bradley Jr

Once upon a time in the AL East, there were three top tier defensive centre fielders throughout all of baseball in the division. Kevin Pillar with the Blue Jays, Kevin Kiermaier with the Tampa Bay Rays and Jackie Bradley Jr. with the Red Sox.

Bradley Jr, who’s also called by his initials of JBJ, has been a stud defender in centre field for the Red Sox ever since he stepped foot on a major league diamond. In his career, he’s posted a career DRS of 48. This past season, he posted a DRS of five.

For his defensive work, he was awarded the Gold Glove award for the 2018 season.

At the plate, his results are a mixed bag. In 2016, he got a hit in 29 consecutive games. At the start of his streak, his batting average was .222 but it was raised to .350 in those 29 games. He finished the 2016 season slashing .267/.349/.486 with 149 hits and 26 home runs.

In 2020, he played in 55 games slashing .283/.364/.450 with seven home runs and 54 hits. While this is the best slash line of his career, it’s fair to question whether this should be considered a career-high mark due to the fact the season only consisted of 60 games, which is a big difference of a whole season’s worth of games which consists of 162 contests. To add to this, his 2020 OPS of .814, is not the highest mark of his eight year career.

As the Blue Jays are looking to upgrade defensively in centre field, they have already expressed interest in Bradley Jr and he would really improve the overall defence of the team.

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