DUNEDIN, Fla. – When news came out that Michael Saunders was likely to miss half the season with a torn meniscus suffered in a freak accident Wednesday afternoon, the Toronto Blue Jays stepped up their search for potential replacement outfielders.
Then on Friday it was revealed that Saunders’ meniscus had been mostly removed as opposed to repaired, speeding up his recovery time such that there’s a chance he’ll be able to make Opening Day and that it’s not unlikely he’ll be ready for the home opener on April 13.
On Sunday, the Jays brought in another big-league outfielder anyway, signing right-handed slugger Dayan Viciedo to a minor-league contract with an invitation to Spring Training. Viciedo is likely to arrive in camp Monday, and will make $2.5 million if he makes the team.
Viciedo had avoided arbitration with the White Sox by agreeing to a one-year, $4.4 million deal last month, but when the Sox signed Melky Cabrera they released Viciedo and only had to pay him one-sixth of that.
Blue Jays’ general manager Alex Anthopoulos was excited to bring the 25-year-old into camp: “You don’t expect (guys like him) to be available on a minor-league deal this late,” Anthopoulos said. “He’s a young man, he’s got quite a bit of power.”
Jays fans remember seeing that power first-hand last June, when he greeted reliever Dustin McGowan by blasting a mammoth three-run homer at Rogers Centre that gave the Sox the lead, and ultimately, a win.
Viciedo had also taken R.A. Dickey deep the day before.
In all, the slugger has hit four home runs in 42 at-bats at Rogers Centre, while posting an impressive .381/.422/.738 slash line.
But with Saunders not likely to miss much time, if any, Viciedo isn’t with the Jays to play half a season in left field. That’s a good thing, because he’s a poor defensive outfielder. So why bring him in, other than the fact there are no bad minor-league contracts?
Anthopoulos says Viciedo is in Toronto to make the team, adding, “there are scenarios that maybe his best position is first base/DH, we don’t know. The big thing is we want to see how he hits, see how he looks, his approach, things like that. Saunders is going to be back sooner than later, so if there is a chance for him to be here long term, that first base/DH scenario is probably the most wide-open in terms of competition.”
When the Blue Jays signed Justin Smoak in December, it seemed as though he was likely to play a lot of first base, with Edwin Encarnacion acting as the primary designated hitter. Smoak was a one-time super-prospect as a power hitter and had lost his way in the cavernous Safeco Field in Seattle.
Since the Smoak signing, though, the Blue Jays have brought in great glove-man and walk machine Daric Barton and now Viciedo, making it appear as though they’re either not sold on Smoak, or they really want to make sure he knows he doesn’t have a clear path to a job.
Viciedo began his career as a soulless destroyer of left-handed pitching, posting OPSs of .960, 1.020 and 1.033 against portsiders in his first three years in the majors, while never having anywhere near as much success against right-handers.
In the past two seasons, though, Viciedo has hit right-handed pitching slightly better than he’s hit lefties, though he hasn’t hit either side particularly well, combining to post a .247/.292/.417 mark over 2013 and 2014.
If he doesn’t beat out Smoak or Barton for the first base job — a position at which he’s made just seven career starts — the Jays hope Viciedo can provide depth at the infield corners as well as the occasional emergency stint in the outfield. The Cuban came to the major leagues as a third baseman, but he hasn’t played there since his rookie year of 2010.
There’s no opt-out in Viciedo’s contract — it’s a split deal; the Blue Jays will only have to pay him $20,000 a month if he doesn’t make the team, or if he does but then clears waivers on the way to the minors — but Anthopoulos says that he should be in the major leagues somewhere on Opening Day, and if it’s not in Toronto, there’s an understanding that the Jays won’t stand in his way of finding work elsewhere.