Who will be the starting second baseman for the Blue Jays in 2023?

The New Guy- Whit Merrifield

The Blue Jays didn’t do much to boost their lineup ahead of last season’s trade deadline, but the one move they did make was acquiring Whit Merrifield from the Kansas City Royals. Merrifield is a 2x All-Star and had several productive seasons for the rebuilding Royals, and after years of resisting the temptation to trade him, including when his value would have been much higher, they finally decided to move on in exchange for Max Castillo and Samad Taylor.

The 33 year old had a slow start in his new uniform, but he finished the year hitting .281/.323/.446 with five home runs, five doubles, and 16 RBI over 121 at-bats as a Blue Jay. He also finished the regular season as hot at the plate as any hitter in baseball as he slashed .500/.500/.708 over his last seven games. With Merrifield playing so well he deservedly entered the playoffs as a no-doubt starter, appearing both at second base and in left field.

One of the added bonuses that came with picking up Merrifield was the extra year of contract control he came with rather than being a rental. He’s finally finishing up the bargain contract he signed with the Royals, and according to spotrac.com he’ll make just 2.75 million next year, with an incentive that could increase the total by four million as long as he spends 110 games on the active roster. After that he also has a club option for 18 million for 2024, but it’ll almost certainly be passed on since it comes with just a 500k buyout.

While there are a few directions the Blue Jays could go with second base in 2023, I wouldn’t be surprised at all if they looked to Merrifield as the majority starter at the position. He does have the versatility to play in the outfield as well, and I’m sure he’ll move around a bit no matter what happens, but he showed why he can be a valuable guy to have around down the stretch and probably earned another look next year.

The Jays could decide to allocate the 6.75 million he’ll likely make to another area of the roster, but considering the return they could get for the reasonable salary, I think he’ll stick around for another year. That said, there are several other options available to them.