Toronto Blue Jays continued its effort to join the top of the list of contenders in the American League today. The Jays reached an agreement to sign the free agent shortstop Marcus Semien to a $ 18 million one-year contract. In Semien, the Blue Jays hit a large stick for 2021 and remove another significant piece from the board.
Semien became a star during his six seasons in Oakland, but it was not a clean, linear process. He started his career with the White Sox, but ended up going 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 regular solid with an average of 1.98 fWAR per 600 plate appearances from 2015 to 2017. In 2018, Semien had a mini-breakout cutting its strikeout rate from 22.0 percent to 18.6 percent and increasing its total fWAR to 3.9fWAR. Much of that value, however, came on the defensive end.
His bat picked up importantly the following season, when Semien cut 0.285 / 0.369 / 0.522 with a career record of 33 home runs, 13.7% strikeout rate, 10.6% walk rate and 138 wRC +. While Semien’s 7.6 fWAR season earned him a third place in the AL MVP vote, there are doubts whether that year was the most unusual. He was never an All-Star, and out of that electrifying 2019 campaign, Semien never posted a wRC + above 100.
Defensively, his glove received mixed reviews, with numbers below average for Outs Above Average, but generally more positive numbers in recent years by DRS and UZR. Moving to second base, then, could even increase your overall production in the field. Frankly, Semien’s desire to play second base is great for the Blue Jays, who can now keep the star Bo Bichette on the shortstop and move Cavan Biggio crossing the diamond for the third, observes Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca (via Twitter) Vlad Guerrero Jr. has also been preparing remarkably for reps on third base, although he is more likely to finish on the first. This quartet now constitutes one of the game’s most fearsome infield groups.
The impact of the Toronto off-season now includes the additions of Semien and George Springer for programming, while they reinforced the bullpen with Kirby Yates and Tyler Chatwood. They also attacked at the beginning of the off-season to keep Robbie Ray in its rotation.
With Freddy Galvis signing in Baltimore, the pool of free agent shortstops is rapidly shrinking. Andrelton Simmons and Didi Gregorius are now the main options still available at the free agency. In terms of value, Jays must be excited to get talent like Semien on a one-year contract. It should reinforce the lineup on both sides of the ball, maintaining long-term flexibility. Toronto has clients in the field, Jordan Groshans and Austin Martin, who may be ready to join the team soon, if the Jays don’t want to commit long-term money to Semien after 2021. That kind of flexibility, in some respects, has even surpassed even the raw talent like the white rabbit that GM is chasing in the game.
For Semien, he is a little shy of what he would have done had A’s extended a qualifying offer. If Oakland had extended the $ 18.9 million qualifying offer, they would have received a draft pick when Semien signed elsewhere, but they were cautious about issuing such a contract, even with a one-year term. Semien can now rejoin the free agency next year, as part of the stacked class of free agents that may include Francisco lindor, Trevor Story, Corey Seagerand Javier Baez.
Jon Heyman of MLB Network (via Twitter) was the first to report the deal, while Jeff Passan of ESPN added the terms of the deal (via Twitter)and Ken Rosenthal of Atlético agreed with Toronto’s defensive plans for Semien. Many also noted that former All-Star second baseman Carlos Baerga broke the news today on instagram.