Contract!
I got my first inkling that something was happening earlier this week when Encarnación tweeted pics of his visit to African Lion Safari. I suspected that Encarnación didn't dig having giraffes lick his car windows just for his own amusement and that he had baby Edwin up for a visit.
And sure enough, EE jr made an appearance at the press conference announcing Encarnación's brand new three year, 27 million deal.
It's no secret that I've been very pro-Encarnación for a while now. So clearly I believe the contract that was inked yesterday is a good one. Yes, it is likely below market for what Encarnación could command as a free agent.
But hearing him talk about how much he loves Toronto and loves his teammates (most especially José Bautista) leads me to believe that Encarnación is a corporate culture kind of guy over being a massive pay cheque type.
I love how, in this context, I'm talking like 27 million dollars isn't a massive pay cheque. Corporate culture, sure. Let's go with that.
“I’m very happy to be part of this organization for the next three years,” Encarnación said at a news conference. “That’s why I signed to stay here. I love this country, I love Toronto and I love the fans.”
Encarnación had a rough start to his time with the Blue Jays. In 2010, there were errors a plenty at third base, unfortunate nicknames stolen from the Cincinnati Reds' beat writers, a demotion to AAA Vegas, a trip through waivers and spending a short, unfortunate span of a few weeks in the off season as a member of the Oakland A's before being released and snatched up by the Jays again.
Starting after the 2011 All Star break, and continuing on until today, Encarnación blossomed into an offensive threat and a pretty decent first baseman. In 2012, EE is batting .295 with 23 homers, 58 RBIs and a .947 on-base plus slugging percentage.
Encarnación didn't like the uncertainty of free agency and also wants to stick around to play with his best friend José Bautista. “When I started talking about my contract, I asked (Bautista) and he loved for me to stay here with him, because he’s going to be here for four or five years,” Encarnación said.
Bautista's involvement is kind of interesting and has a few people wondering about it. Apparently, Bautista also helped negotiate Yunel Escobar's deal. Bautista has said he would've gone into business had baseball not worked out for him, and Stephen Brunt's profile in Sportsnet Magazine said that Bautista and his friends basically talk about real estate and investment strategies all the time.
Brunt described him as serious and smart. Also something not considered by many who have never dealt in a second language, Bautista has an excellent command of both English and Spanish, so he can talk to the team officials and talk to the players and their families.
So in some ways it might seem a little disconcerting, but also makes a lot of sense. A power brain sits in beside those power ears.
In other news, apparently Casey Janssen and Ricky Romero went to cottage country for the All Star Break. They went sea dooing and had themselves a good time. Tony Ambrogio tweeted that Romero told him the two of them just got in a car and drove up there, without a place to stay.
“We knew nothing about it. So we got in Ricky’s car and decided we were just going to drive until we stumbled into something. No reservations, no nothing. We just said we were going to wing it. We had an absolute blast,” Janssen said.
They came back yesterday and went to a Toronto FC game.
Sporting events and spontaneous vacays? I don't know for sure, but they sound serious.
In other news, John Lott interviewed Adeiny Hechavarria. He likes the circus.