How The Blue Jays Can Replace Bautista and Encarnacion and Still Be Good

Photo Credit: Dan Hamilton-USA TODAY Sports

Rumours are already swirling about Edwin Encarnacion. In Toronto it’s being reported that the Blue Jays are making a genuine push to keep him. In Boston the expectation is that he is so perfect a replacement for the retiring David Ortiz that ending up there is practically preordained. Jose Bautista, meanwhile, waits to see what the market will be like for his services, knowing that it won’t be anything quite like the numbers that were being thrown around before his injury-riddled season.

The dream for Blue Jays fans is that the club, flush with new riches after two wildly successful seasons on the field, at the gate, and on television, will bring back at least one of their beloved sluggers and thwart the plans of the Red Sox and their fans—and, even, of Big Papi himself, who caused a stir at the All-Star Game by naming Encarnacion outright as an obvious heir apparent. Unfortunately, fans of Canada’s MLB team have seen this movie before. They’ve seen the way Boston tends to get what it wants, and the way that the Blue Jays too often come up short with big-name free agents.