Surplus of infielders creates roster complications, opportunity for Blue Jays

DUNEDIN, Fla. — Like so many other players during this curiously sluggish off-season, Eduardo Escobar found his market really slow. Landing with a new team took longer than the former All-Star expected, but “there are still a lot of free agents,” he said, “and that situation is really hard.”

That’s why, after he reached agreement on a minor-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, he told GM Ross Atkins that he’d make his way to Dunedin, Fla., for his physical as soon as possible the next day. By Saturday morning, he was at his locker sorting through his new team gear, donning a Blue Jays uniform, getting acclimated to his surroundings.

“I was waiting for an opportunity. The Blue Jays were the team that showed the most interest in me,” he said. “I’m so excited to come to this team and to work really hard here.”

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Escobar, 35, adds to the glut of infielders assembled by the Blue Jays, and their roster mix was further muddled late Friday when they reached agreement with left-handed slugger Daniel Vogelbach on a minor-league deal pending a physical that he’s expected to take Sunday.

When camp opened Thursday, manager John Schneider quipped that mapping out playing time at second and third base this season is going to be “a cool puzzle to solve,” but two days later, the Blue Jays suddenly have more pieces than the frame can hold.

Depth is great, of course, and there are no guarantees with minor-league deals — that’s the beauty of them. Yet between the surplus of players vying for similar roles, a full 40-man roster, plus upward pressure from prospects who may soon be deserving of big-league opportunity, the Blue Jays look like a team poised to make a trade before Opening Day.

Consider where things stand right now in the race for the 13 position-player spots on the roster, and let’s pull second base and third base out of the mix to start.

Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk behind the plate makes two. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first and Bo Bichette at shortstop is four. An outfield of Daulton Varsho, Kevin Kiermaier, George Springer pushes the total to seven, plus Justin Turner at DH makes eight. That leaves five spots, two of which will go to Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Cavan Biggio, who’ll be handling some third and second, even with their exact roles TBD.

Vogelbach is coming in to compete for a spot as a left-handed bat off the bench, an indicator that they’re envisioning that specific role for the roster and suggesting Spencer Horwitz is his main competition for the job.

So, that’s 11, with Escobar presumably having some assurances about making the roster, all things being equal, upping the tally to 12, leaving Santiago Espinal, Davis Schneider and Ernie Clement, who is out of options, vying for one final spot on the club.

And that’s without considering prospects such as the hard-hitting Orelvis Martinez, who Schneider said is focusing on second base after spending most of last year on the left side of the diamond and described as “a legit big-league power bat”; Addison Barger, who’ll get reps at third base and right field; Canadian third baseman Damiano Palmegiani, whose star is rising quickly; and Leo Jimenez, a strong defender at shortstop.

That’s a significant organizational surplus of infielders and asset management is only part of what makes their current set-up complicated.

Espinal, an All-Star in 2022, is too good a player to be on the fringes of a roster, while Davis Schneider is certainly deserving of more opportunity after he slugged .603 with eight homers and 12 doubles in a small-sample size of 35 games a year ago. Schneider, along with Clement, who posted an .885 OPS in 29 games, helped hold the club together when injuries struck in August last season, and is the type of depth piece teams value.

The Blue Jays can’t carry them all, not if everyone is healthy and Escobar and Vogelbach make the club, while Clement can’t be sent down without first clearing waivers. Given that the Blue Jays don’t project to have a natural extra outfielder on the roster, a re-allocation of assets can resolve that, while a consolidation of talent at some point could potentially help land impact before the deadline.

Still, that doesn’t resolve the division of labour once the 2024 season starts, and the Blue Jays will have lots of players accustomed to regular at-bats fighting over a relatively small lot of them.

Competition for jobs may be great during spring training but “you hope it doesn’t really continue into the season,” said John Schneider. “It kind of does naturally, but setting expectations (for players), it’s almost better to kind of paint worst-case scenario. I’ve learned that over the years and go from there. And if everyone’s healthy and everyone’s performing, that’s when it gets just a little bit trickier for me and for the staff. But as far as the number (of players) that we have, spring’s easy to get everyone in where they should be. Health-dependent, it gets a little bit trickier when the season starts. But trying to just set expectations as early as we can, with what the probable outcome will be if everyone’s healthy.”

Escobar, of course, is intent on securing as much playing time as possible.

An All-Star in 2021, the switch-hitting infielder is coming off a down year split between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Angels, when he batted .226/.269/.344 in 309 plate appearances over 99 games.

Between a truncated spring when he was mostly on the bench with Venezuela at the World Baseball Classic, the trade out west and sporadic playing time on two non-competitive teams, “last year was really hard because you have no control, and when you don’t play every day, it’s really hard,” he said. “I always came to the field with a winning mentality, ready when the manager needs me … working really hard, having a good routine, good preparation for the game. But you don’t control the result. Last year was a little tough, but last year is gone. I’m excited about this opportunity with the Blue Jays and to have a good year here.”

Not one for excuses, Escobar made several changes over the winter and is confident that “you’re going to see the results.”

He dropped some weight, made adjustments to his workout routine and hit with a new coach in Miami, Frank Valdez, alongside Luis Arraez, Jeimer Candelario, Luis Rengifo and Avisail Garcia, among others.

With Valdez, Escobar focused on being quicker with his hands, particularly on the left side of the plate, where his OPS of .519 was 250 points lower than when batting right-handed. Immediately he felt the difference and “when you start working on something new and you see results quickly, you feel really good,” he said.

If he can simply regain his form from 2022, when he delivered a .726 OPS and was worth 1.2 wins, as calculated by Baseball Reference, the Blue Jays will have found something in him.

But at his age, that’s no lock, which is why he’s on a minor-league deal, as Vogelbach will be too, the Blue Jays essentially taking educated guesses while throwing so many possibilities at the wall, something will inevitably have to stick.

“There are a lot of good players here,” said Escobar. “I’m going to do the same things I’ve been doing for 11 years, play hard, be the best teammate, work hard every day, help the team and be ready for the manager, whatever he needs from me. That’s what I did all my career. I’m not coming here trying to do something else. I try to do my job, be my best, be humble, treat people with respect and play hard.”

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