In the bottom of the fourth inning of the Toronto Blue Jays’ Saturday afternoon contest with the Detroit Tigers, Toronto first baseman Justin Smoak came up to bat and popped out to end the inning.
An innocuous play you’ll see in almost every baseball game, but in this case, it was a routine out that may have just earned him a lot more money.
According to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, that pop out was also Smoak’s 950th plate appearance with the Blue Jays over the last two seasons, kicking in an escalator in his contract that increases the value of his club option for next season from $6 million to $7 million.
Additionally, that option could increase by another $1 million should he get to 1,100 plate appearances, 150 more, by the end of the 2018 campaign.
Coming into Saturday’s game, Smoak was batting .234/.360/.430 with 10 home runs and 39 RBIs over 311 plate appearances this season.
Should the Blue Jays pick up his option for next season it will cost them at least $7 million now. Otherwise, the club will have to pay $250,000 to buy the option out.
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