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Francona’s been busy at work engineering the best team he can put together in 2017.

Cleveland signed 1B/OF Chris Collabello and RP Nick Goody yesterday.

Both these players are low risk and high return moves.

Collabello hit only .069 in 2016 (but he served an 80 game suspension for PEDs and Toronto only played him in 10 games last year.)

In 2015, Collabello hit .321 with 15 homers (in only 333 at bats).



Last year Goody 25, had a 4.66 ERA in 27 relief appearances for the Yankees. He struck out 34 in 29 innings

That’s an excellent strikeout to inning ratio. The type of pitcher Francona can turn into an ace.



These are nondescript (not flashy) impressive pick-ups.

Francona’s a genius

The Indians signed Encarnacion.

https://twitter.com/JeffPassan/status/812113481495351296

That is a great, great deal. The Indians were already the clear favorite in the Central, this just puts them over the top.

Ed-WINdians!

wow

That's crazy, can't really call the Dolans cheap now. Premier player...will put asses in the seats while we make another run. Great signing

I agree and it's not a super long deal either.

Tremendous signing.

between that, getting almonte back for the full year, having guyer the full year and if brantley can get back along with gomes...man this team is going to light some people up

You guys are getting a masher. Jays fans are not too happy he got away, I can tell ya. He's a bonafide 35-40 homer bat.

And the opt out is a club option.

The Blue Jays have to be kicking themselves. They signed Kendrys Morales, who is not good, to a three year, $33 million deal.

Assuming everyone is healthy, what's the batting order next year?

Also is there any chance we resign Raj?

Santana
Kipnis
Lindor
Encarnacion
Brantley
Ramirez
Chisenhall
Gomes
Naquin

Just a guess.


Maybe you tinker the lineup a little bit get Brantly in the 3-hole. Move Santana to 5th.....So: Kip, Lindor, Brantley, EE, Santana? Brantley is still a huge question mark, however.

Amazing. Keep a healthy rotation, and we win the World Series!

Absolutely awesome signing!

Can't way to get up to the corner of Carnegie and Ontario this upcoming year.

On a side note, were you at the Blue Jackets vs Pens game tonight, Rocket? That was insane. I've never seen 3 goals scored faster in my life.

Yeah! I loved every minute of tonight. Definitely the best game I've ever watched.

I hate to see Napoli leave, but Wow!

Encarnacion is a legit #4! I am happy to have him on our side.

Hopefully we get Brantley back to 100%, even if we have to bring him along slowly. I was excited for this coming year before ..... now I just can't wait!

Not quite, but being a lock for the playoffs isn't a bad thing.

Hoping your prediction goes as well as your prediction for the Cavs last year did

I'm just glad we haven't had to blow up our farm system at all. Other than what we gave up for Andrew Miller, we haven't traded anyone of note.

I think it's a great signing .. and for fairly cheap considering.

Hell YES!

You should thank us for the early Christmas gift...

Wow

Quote by Rocket 3/14/16:

“I bought a 20 game season ticket package today.”

Might not want to wait until March this season.

j/c:

Reaction from The Toronto Star....

Blue Jays big losers as Edwin Encarnacion signs with Cleveland

Once the Blue Jays rushed to judgment and signed slugger Kendrys Morales to a three-year contract on Nov. 18, one week into the free-agent signing season, things were never going to turn out well for Edwin Encarnacion and his desire to return to Toronto.

When the Jays signed Steve Pearce on Dec. 5, Edwin and his flap-up, home-run trot were as good as gone. Logic and redundancy always trump emotion.

Most local fans are frustrated that Encarnacion has been allowed to leave to the rival Cleveland Indians, the team that beat the Jays in the 2016 ALCS. The Indians have now taken one of the sluggers that was the heart of the Toronto lineup for the past six seasons.

The reported agreement, yet to be made official, is for three years and $60 million, plus a fourth option season for $20-million with a $5M buyout in 2020, according to Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports.

The Jays’ offer, made right after the end of the World Series, was for four years and $80M guaranteed. It seems certain Encarnacion, his agent Paul Kinzer and the Blue Jays all lose. The Indians win. The Jays set a deadline to accept their offer, but then reportedly extended it several days in order to give the Edwin camp more time, but Kinzer believed that other teams were ready to enter the bidding for more years and more guaranteed dollars. He was dead wrong and the moment passed. The Jays are now a lesser team because of it, and Encarnacion is in Cleveland.

Jays GM Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro say that they believe in Morales as the DH, with an occasional start at first base. They believe that because the 33-year-old switch-hitter has played most of his career in spacious home ballparks, grand canyons like Kauffman Stadium and Safeco Field, that his power numbers will be significantly better.

Yes, the Jays are paying half of what they would have for Encarnacion in 2017 but, remember, there is no salary cap in baseball. So unless you are someone who just believes that all athletes and most baseball players are making too much money, then the Jays have lost out in this exchange of players. Encarnacion played 160 games in 2016, with 42 homers and a league-leading 127 RBIs.

The hard-working Dominican star, who had improved defensively over the past two years and would have been the Jays’ primary first baseman, was a sure thing. Instead they are hoping for improvement from Morales because of the ballpark, and looking to Pearce and Justin Smoak to platoon at first base.

Encarnacion cemented his place in Jays lore with the walk-off home run against the O’s in the wild-card game, one of the top half-dozen homers in franchise history. He leaves with 239 homers, behind only Carlos Delgado and Jose Bautista.

The Jays clearly had $15 million per year over the next four seasons to offer outfielder Dexter Fowler, making a failed bid before he chose the Cardinals. If they had that much set aside, then they had the money to re-sign Edwin, even if it meant clearing a little payroll, maybe with the trade of Smoak. They had the money, but they had sold his position up the river.

The Jays are not as good as they were a year ago. The Indians are better than they were. The Jays will receive a compensation pick between the first and the second round, while the Indians will forfeit their first-round pick. It does not go to the Jays.

The Jays should have allowed Edwin to explore the market before pulling the rug out from under the deal by signing Morales. Maybe Kinzer should have had a better read of the market. Maybe both sides were fooled by the belief that David Ortiz had the influence with president David Dombrowski to choose his own replacement as DH in Boston. The Jays need to spend that Fowler/Encarnacion money before the next season starts and they need to spend it wisely. Right now they are big losers in this one.

https://www.thestar.com/sports/bluejays/...nd-reports.html

What is interesting to me is the reaction from some of the players on twitter. I guessed the whole "Party at Napoli's" narrative and the perception of Napoli's leadership in the clubhouse meant teammates were endeared to Napoli, but perhaps not?:

Trevor Bauer

https://twitter.com/BauerOutage/status/812227674672283648

Jason Kipnis

https://twitter.com/TheJK_Kid/status/812123649767604224 (funny pic)

Jose Ramirez

https://twitter.com/MrLapara/status/812115996022632448

None of the above is disparaging Napoli whatsoever, but these guys were very quick to react to the news last night, display their happiness, knowing the signing means Napoli is almost certainly not coming back. Eh, just found the player reactions curious, I guess.

Still, I love the signing and it's definitely an upgrade.

From what I understand, the Jays offered him 4 years for $80 million but he said he wanted to test the market... they Jays paniced and signed Morales, then Encarnacion signed with Indians for 3 years and $60 million

Yes, and if I'm reading reports correcty, the option (in the fourth year) is $25M. Personally, I doubt EE sees that.

Correction: fourth-year option is $20M, but buyout is $5M.

I'm very excited about the signing and that the Dolan's seem to understand that they have a 2-3 year window to win the World Series before the young talent on this roster comes of age and everybody wants paid so they went out and got a big bat.... but this 3 year, $60 million deal is the single biggest deal the Indians have ever signed while almost every other team in baseball already has some 9 figure deals on the books.... and unless they do something else dramatic they will still be firmly in the bottom half in terms of payroll next year... so I'm happy, but it's not like the Dolans are just dishing out big checks..

I'll bet Francona lives in his office during the off season.

Great Christmas gift for Indians fans. I held my breath every time this guy came to bat in the ALCS. IIRC, it was 20 years ago that the Indians gave the fans an early Christmas gift when they signed Roberto Alomar. They might not be done yet; I read they are still talking to Rajai Davis about returning, and are also among the suitors for SP Tyson Ross. (Apparently, they are considering a bullpen role for Salazar.)

They know Napoli while a great guy, was really a HUGE reason we lost the WS..We needed a bat and EE is that..Napoli had a career year but the chances of him doing that again are slim, while EE has consistently been one of the most feared hitters in baseball. Basically they know an upgrade when they see one...so Does that mean we have Nacho Libre references all season?

I think that players understand the game. Players come and players go. Also, let's be honest, EE is a better, more consistent player at this point than Napoli is. Napoli gave this team great leadership, and a lot of special moments, but he also fell off badly at the end of the year, and throughout the post-season.

I wonder if we're going to try and bring back Rajai Davis? There was talk about doing so, but the budget has to have been blown out at this point, adding EE, adding Andrew Miller to this year's payroll, and also picking up Santana's option. Without looking, that's something like $45 million right there. Man, no one can call Dolan cheap anymore, that's for sure.

quote by waterdawg 1/13/16:

"Power bat . power bat , power bat , right handed would be nice .. Same as every year !"

quote by Punchsmack next post:

"+1"

Who would have thought before the year was over the Indians would pick-up the AL 2016 leader in RBIs.

What a great deal for the Tribe. Encarnacion will be a really good fit in that lineup. Man if they can get Brantley back and keep him healthy, they are gonna win a ton of games next year.

I've been critical of the Dolans for things they have done in the past, but I have no problem applauding them for this move. This speaks of a desire to get back to the world series, and finish this thing off.

I'm definitely going to pay for the MLB.tv deal in the spring. Pretty easy decision.

quote above by Spergon:

"I'm definitely going to pay for the MLB.tv deal in the spring."

I'm seriously considering this too.

It looks like it's fairly cheap.

Back at the end of September MLB.tv gave me a special for the final 2 weeks of the season.

I loved it.

The main problem I have is that I'd be staying up too late on some nights I should be in bed early.

I just hope that we aren't going to be late in the AL in attendance again. (or 3rd from the bottom)

We can dream. It's allowed.

quote from Rotoworld.com:

"Michael Brantley (shoulder) began some non-contact swinging last week.
As scheduled. Brantley has undergone three surgeries on his right shoulder over the last calendar year and appeared in only 11 games for the Indians in 2016, but the hope is he'll be somewhere close to 100 percent leading into the start of spring training in February..."

Quicken Loans Arena Wednesday

Need an Indians fix today?

http://www.foxsports.com/mlb/story/cleve...arnacion-011017

The Indians infield is incredible.

So now 1B will be Encarnacion and Santana. That’s great!



At 3B is a superstar in the making - Jose Ramirez - who batted .312 with 11 homers and 22 stolen bases. (he’s 24 years old)


And the best players are arguably 2B Kipnis and SS Lindor.


I’d conservatively rate this infield 9.5 out of 10.