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The Toronto Blue Jays continued their efforts to join the top tier of AHL contenders today. Jays have reached deal to sign free agent shortstop Marcus seeds to a one-year contract worth $ 18 million. In Semien, the Blue Jays land a huge bat for 2021 and remove another important piece from the field.
Semien became a star during his six seasons at Oakland, but it was not a clean, linear process. He started his career with the White Sox, but found himself traveling to Oakland as part of a December 2014 deal that sent Jeff Samardzija to the White Sox. For the next three seasons, Semien produced as a solid regular with an average of 1.98 fWAR for 600 appearances on the field from 2015 to 2017. In 2018, Semien enjoyed a mini-breakthrough by slashing his strikeout rate by 22.0% to 18.6% and increasing its Total fWAR to 3.9fWAR. Much of that value, however, has come from the defensive side.
His bat caught up in a major way the following season as Semien slashed .285 / .369 / .522 with 33 home runs, 13.7% pullout rate, 10.6% walk rate, and 138 wRC +. As Semien’s 7.6 fWAR season landed him a third place in the AL MVP vote, one wonders if this year was the outlier. He’s never been an All-Star, and outside of that galvanizing 2019 campaign, Semien has never posted a wRC + above 100.
Defensively, his gloves have received mixed reviews, with below-average numbers by Outs Above Average, but generally more positive numbers in recent years by DRS and UZR. Going to second base could even increase his overall production on the ball field. Frankly, Semien’s willingness to play second base is great for the Blue Jays, who can now keep the spotlight. Bo Bichette at a short stop and move Cavan Biggio through the diamond to third, notes Sportsnet.ca’s Shi Davidi (via Twitter). Vlad Guerrero Jr. has also notably prepared for reps at third base, although he is more likely to finish early. This quartet is now one of the most formidable field groups in the game.
Toronto’s hard-hitting offseason now includes the additions of Semien and George springer programming, while they reinforced the enclosure with Kirby yates and Tyler Chatwood. They also hit early in the offseason to keep Robbie ray in their rotation.
With Freddy galvis signing in Baltimore, the pool of free agent shortstops is shrinking rapidly. Andrelton Simmons and Gregory learned are now the best options still available in free agency. In terms of value, the Jays must be delighted to have talent like Semien on a one-year contract. It should strengthen their alignment on both sides of the ball while maintaining long term flexibility. Toronto has on-field prospects Jordan Groshans and Austin Martin who may be ready to join the squad anytime soon, if the Jays don’t want to commit long-term money to Semien after 2021. That kind of flexibility has, to in some ways even surpassed raw talent. like the white rabbit that the GM is chasing around the game.
For Semien, he’s just a little shy of what he would have done if the As had extended a qualifying offer. If Oakland had extended the qualifying offer by $ 18.9 million, they would have received a draft pick when Semien signed elsewhere, but they were wary of issuing a contract of this size, even for a length of time. one year. Semien can now return to free agency next year as part of the stacked class of free agent shortstops that may include Francisco Lindor, Trevor’s story, Corey seager, and Javier Baez.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter) first broke news of the deal, while ESPN’s Jeff Passan added the terms of the deal (via Twitter), and Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal echoed Toronto’s defensive plans for Semien. Many also noted that former All-Star second baseman Carlos Baerga broke the news earlier today on Instagram.
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