Blue Jays: Former players still looking for homes for 2021 season

The free agent market has been developing very slowly and there are currently a bunch of ex Blue Jays still looking for work.

It was recently announced that Justin Smoak had signed with Yomiuri Giants in Japan and Marcus Stroman had accepted the qualifying offer from the New York Mets, but there are still a few other ex-Blue Jays players out there looking for work.

The biggest name is Edwin Encarnacion who finished 2020 playing with the Chicago White Sox where he had a slash line of .157/.250/.377 over 44 games, but he did hit 10 home runs in the shortened season. Encarnacion left Toronto after the 2016 year and has since played in Cleveland, Seattle, New York (Yankees) and Chicago (White Sox) in the four seasons since.

Encarnacion hit 30+ home runs in the first three seasons and would have been on pace to do the same again in 2020 had the season played in full. He could be a good addition to a line-up as he continues to show he has a lot of power left in his bat.

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The centerfielder known as “Superman”, Kevin Pillar left Toronto shortly after the start of the 2019 -season and finished the year off with a career high 21 home runs and 88 RBI with the San Francisco Giants. He signed with last offseason with the Boston Red Sox and was then traded at the deadline to the Colorado Rockies.

He finished the shortened season with a slash line of .288/.336/446 between the two teams and just turned 32 years old this week. In Boston, Pillar play primarily right field, but moved back to centerfield in Colorado. If the Blue Jays strikeout on both George Springer and Jackie Bradley Jr, Pillar could be a good fit to return to the team on a very cheap contract.

Freddy Galvis had a very short stint in Toronto in 2019, but had played good defense and was productive at the plate. The club allowed him to go on waivers to give him a chance at the postseason that year.  In the season and a half since he left, he played in Cincinnati for the Reds, but has seen his offensive game diminish. He may be in tough to get a major league contract and might have to settle for a minor league contract with an invite to a MLB camp.

Aaron Sanchez was once one of the high profile prospects coming through the Blue Jays organization. A tall slender right handed thrower who hit high 90s with his fastball.  Sanchez was very successful through his first three major league seasons and even won the AL ERA Title in 2016 along with being named an All Star in a year that he went 15-2 with a 3.00 ERA. Injuries derailed his next few seasons and in 2019 he was packaged to Houston for Derek Fisher.  Sanchez would make just four starts after the trade and his season would end due to shoulder surgery. Sanchez would go unsigned for 2019 while rehabbing and is currently unsigned.  As he has not thrown a pitch in a live game in almost a year and a half, he’ll need to look for a team to take a chance on him.

Joe Biagini who will go down as one of the better Rule 5 Selections the Blue Jays have made due to his performances in both the regular season and playoffs in 2016. The right hander was packaged with Sanchez in 2019 and remained with the Astros last year. Biagini saw limited action in 2020 as struggled in his 4.1 innings pitched where he allowed 10 earned runs. Biagini was granted free agency this past offseason and he is still looking for a home.

One of the higher profile pitchers of the second tier of free agent starters is two-time Blue Jay J.A. Happ. The southpaw has been playing with the New York Yankees since he was traded in 2018 and started nine games last year posting a 3.47 ERA and 1.05 WHIP. There has been speculation that Happ could return to the Blue Jays for a third tour.

The last player we will talk about is Ryan Goins who played just 14 games last year with the White Sox and will be turning 33 in February. Goins was never an offensive threat but did hit 62 RBI in 2017.  Goins is likely at the end of his career, but could find a spot somewhere as a cheap utility infielder.

If you could bring back one player for 2021, which player would it be?