Blue Jays: More to re-signing Marcus Semien than meets the eye

The Blue Jays are going to be one of many teams vying for Marcus Semien‘s services during the offseason, and it’s possible that there’s more urgency than we may realize.

I say that because like many of you, I’ve already put a fair bit of thought into what the Blue Jays should do when some of their stars become free agents this winter, and that list includes a legitimate MVP candidate in Semien, and arguably the current leader in the Cy Young race in Robbie Ray. It’s going to be very difficult to re-sign them both, especially when you consider that Jose Berrios and Teoscar Hernandez will need extensions sooner than later, and the same eventually goes for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette if the Blue Jays want to lock them up long-term.

The knee jerk reaction of most people is to favour re-signing Ray because of the value of pitching, and because of how dominant he’s been in his age 29 season as a Blue Jay. That makes total sense and there’s a very strong argument for doing just that, however, it’s not that that simple when you look at the big picture.

The Blue Jays will obviously have to convince Ray and/or Semien to stick around, and give them a contract that warrants their making that type of decision. A willingness to have those serious contract talks is the biggest part of the equation, and close behind it is how much you’re willing to pay compared to the next guy. To that end, I think the Blue Jays have to be very careful about letting Semien get away.

My biggest fear for this winter is that Semien will not only leave the Blue Jays, but that he’ll sign with their division rivals in the New York Yankees instead. The Yankees would have a tough time fitting his potential contract into their budget, but they have an undeniable need at shortstop, which is Semien’s natural position and one he could return to with ease. It would be a massive blow to the Blue Jays to lose Semien in general, but to see him join the Yankees would be a double whammy that would be a tough pill to swallow.

To be fair, I’m saying this as nothing more than speculation, and I’m not aware of any reports linking Semien to the Yankees at any time. I’ll also acknowledge that the Yankees have several options in free agency if they want to upgrade at shortstop, and they may prefer to pursue someone else like Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, or Javier Baez. However, given how the rest of their roster is assembled it wouldn’t shock me if they tried to get someone like Semien on a four or five year deal rather than making a much longer commitment to one of the other names I’ve mentioned.

The Bronx Bombers are also intimately aware of the value that Semien brings to the Blue Jays on the diamond, as Semien has been a Yankee killer in 2021. He’s slashed .306/.411/.677 with seven home runs and 14 RBI over 62 at-bats, coming up with some clutch hits in the process. Acquiring him would make the Yankees better, and they know that taking him away from the Blue Jays would weaken an important division rival.

Fortunately we still have a few weeks of regular season baseball with Semien under contract, and hopefully a playoff run on top of that. After the dust has settled on this season, I hope the Blue Jays are prepared to make a big offer and try to retain one of their best players. He’s been a perfect fit in Toronto (and Dunedin, and Buffalo), and almost as important, keeping him away from the competition could be very significant.