The Toronto Blue Jays have added their second ex-Houston Astros slugger in as many days, agreeing a three-year deal with designated campaigner / hitter Michael Brantley on Wednesday, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The Jays reached an agreement on a six-year, $ 150 million contract with former Astros center director George Springer on Tuesday night, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The news of the Brantley deal was first communicated by athlete Hazel Mae.
Brantley, 33, has been plagued by injuries for much of his career – last season it was a quad that made him pass the injury list. Although these injuries have reduced his power numbers, he remains a dangerous batter with a high contact rate and a low hit rate.
In 46 games with the Astros in 2020, alternating between left field and DH, Brantley hit. 300, with five home runs, 22 RBI and an OPS of .840.
He has scored at least .300 in five seasons since 2014, tied with four others during most of those baseball seasons in that time period. He has also eliminated just 10.1% of his field appearances since 2014, the third-best baseball player in that time period, with a minimum of 2,000 field appearances.
In a 12-year career with the Cleveland Indians and Astros, Brantley averaged .297, with 114 homers, 640 RBI and a .794 OPS. He has been an All-Star four times and in 2014 finished third in the MVP vote.
Brantley was playing on a two-year, $ 32 million contract he signed before the 2019 season.
ESPN statistics and information contributed to this report.