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Michael Brantley and the Toronto Blue Jays have agreed to terms on a three year deal, per multiple reports. The deal is apparently pending a physical.
Brantley, who turns 34 in May, is a lefthanded hitting corner outfielder who just finished up a two year, $36 million deal with the Houston Astros. He was originally a 7th round pick of the Milwaukee Brewers in 2005, and was sent to the Cleveland Indians as a player to be named later in the July, 2008, trade that sent C.C. Sabathia to Milwaukee, with the Indians also landing Zach Jackson, Matt LaPorta and Rob Bryson.
Brantley has generally been a solidly above-average player since 2012 when he’s been on the field, though he missed most of 2016 and part of 2017 due to injuries. He put up a 7.0 bWAR in 2014, finishing third in the American League MVP balloting, and has a career 30.4 bWAR, slashing .297/.354/.440.
I haven’t seen any details on the financial terms of the deal yet. Brantley is reportedly close friends with George Springer, his teammate the past two seasons in Houston, who the Jays agreed to terms with yesterday.
The Jays have now brought two-thirds of the Astros starting outfield from the past two seasons to Toronto. They had been widely reported to be planning on being aggressive this offseason, and they’ve now landed two of the top free agents on the market.
UPDATE — So after all that, it appears that there was NOT a deal with the Jays, and Brantley instead is returning to Houston on a 2 year, $36 million deal, per multiple reports. So no Brantley for the Jays.