The Toronto Blue Jays are reportedly interested in acquiring free agent Lorenzo Cain, ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick reported on Tuesday.
Cain, 31, is garnering plenty of interest around the league as one of this year’s top free agency targets. The centre-fielder could bring speed and valuable offence to whichever team he lands with and, in the case of the Blue Jays, he could also bring roster questions—especially when it comes to outfielder Kevin Pillar.
“The fact that the Jays are reportedly on Cain is interesting,” MLB Network’s Jon Morosi said during an appearance on Sportsnet’s Starting Lineup Wednesday morning. “It was last year that they pursued Dexter Fowler, now they pursue Cain, which to me indicates that Kevin Pillar’s place in centre field for this team is far from assured, that there are a lot of different options being considered.”
Cain spent the past seven seasons in Kansas City, winning the World Series there in 2015 while finishing third in MVP voting. The qualifying offer he received from the Royals earlier this month means acquiring Cain would cost the Blue Jays a second-round draft pick in 2018 plus $500,000 of their international signing bonus spending limit.
Pillar, meanwhile, has been with the Blue Jays since 2013 and has been a Gold Glove finalist for three straight years thanks to his outfield heroics and “superman”-style catches in centre field, though he lacks the offensive versatility that Cain possesses. He hit .256/.300/.404 with 16 home runs and 37 doubles in 2017 and is eligible for arbitration this off-season.
“Cain, from talking to sources here, he wants to play centre field and executives believe that he still can,” Morosi said. “So for the Jays to have the winning bid on Cain, they’re going to have to have him play centre field and clearly that would mean either a change in role or a change in uniform for Kevin Pillar.”
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