Marco Estrada signs with Oakland

I think we all knew that the Marco Estrada era had come to an end in Toronto, but it’s great to see the soft-tossing wizard catch on somewhere else. According to Jane Lee, the Athletics’ beat reporter for MLB.com, Estrada has inked a deal that’ll bring him to Oakland for the 2019 season.

Acquired in a one-for-one deal for Adam Lind prior to the 2015 season, nobody expected much of Estrada. He was a soft-tosser who allowed a lot of home runs, but he’s one of many older players who found a groove in Toronto. He was excellent in 2015, posting a 3.13 ERA after getting moved into the rotation a few months into the season and he was an all-star in 2016 with a 3.48 ERA season that helped the Jays make it into the wild card game.

It’s Estrada’s clutch playoff performances that make him an under-the-radar Jays legend, though. Estrada played a key role on the Blue Jays’ back-to-back trips to the American League Championship Series. He pitched two legendary games in the 2015 playoffs, one in Game 3 in Texas to keep the Jays alive and make the Bat Flip possible, and one in Game 5 in the ALCS to send the Jays back to Kansas City. All told, Estrada made six starts for the Blue Jays in the playoffs, scattering just 10 runs over 41 2/3 innings.

Though Estrada’s last two seasons weren’t very good as he battled through nagging back injuries, Estrada should be remembered positively for his time in Toronto. 

Best of luck in Oakland, Marco.