Edwin Encarnacion was one of the defining pillars of the previous Toronto Blue Jays’ core, before Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. were ever names that fans were keen on.
From 2012-16, he and José Bautista were the driving forces of the Blue Jays’ first taste of real success since the 1990s. The first baseman hit .272/.367/.544 with a 146 OPS+ during that five-year stretched, which featured 193 home runs and 550 RBIs. Encarnacion was also a dominant force in the postseason, hitting seven extra-base hits and posting an .852 OPS between the team’s back-to-back ALCS runs in 2015-16.
However, before all of that success and glory nearly came a catastrophic mistake. The Blue Jays originally designated Encarnacion for assignment after a middling 2010 season to open a spot on the 40-man roster, losing him to the then-Oakland Athletics.
How the Athletics bailed the Blue Jays out of one of their biggest mistakesEmpty heading
The Blue Jays originally got Encarnacion as part of the return package for third baseman Scott Rolen in a 2009 trade deadline deal with the Cincinnati Reds. The other two players they received in the deal — Josh Roenicke and Zach Stewart — hardly made an impact in the majors, but Encarnacion became a superstar down the line. Before that, though, the team nearly lost him on waivers.
In his mid-20s at the time, Encarnacion was varying shades of “fine” during his initial run with the Blue Jays, posting an OPS of .787 in 2010 while hitting 21 home runs in 96 games. However, the team chose to risk losing him on waivers after the season ended for the sake of roster flexibility, and they ended up losing that bet once the A’s claimed him.
Still in arbitration, the Athletics couldn’t come to an agreement with Encarnacion on a contract for the 2011 season and wound up non-tendering him, to instead make room on the payroll for third baseman Kevin Kouzmanoff. That sent Encarnacion back to free agency, where he agreed to a one-year deal with the Blue Jays that included a club option for the 2012 season.
As another fun anecdote in that story, part of the reason the A’s felt so comfortable releasing Encarnacion is that they planned on playing him at the hot corner, where his defense was always weak. The franchise thought it was close to signing Adrian Beltre at the time, though the Hall of Famer wound up with an AL West rival in the Texas Rangers.
Funnily enough, Encarnacion’s tenure ended in Toronto with another front office misstep, as Ross Atkins opted to sign Kendrys Morales to a three-year deal following the 2016 season, rather than pay market price for his incumbent star. It was an unceremonious ending, but his impact in a Blue Jays jersey will never be forgotten.
