The Toronto Blue Jays made their first postseason and ALCS appearances since 1993, but will be without general manager Alex Anthopoulos in 2016. However, they'll be returning three important veterans who were integral to the team's success during the 2015 MLB season.
The Blue Jays announced on Tuesday that they've exercised team options for Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion and R.A. Dickey.
.@BlueJays have exercised club options on OF Jose Bautista, RHP R.A. Dickey and 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion.
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) November 3, 2015
Bautista ($14 million) and Encarnacion ($10 million) were no-brainers, considering they're among the best power hitters in the MLB, but Dickey ($12 million) was in question because of his salary and the plentiful starting pitching that will be available later this week. The knuckleballer has had a solid tenure in Toronto, going 39-37 with a 3.95 ERA in 101 starts, but it was unknown if the Blue Jays would spend the $12 million to keep him when they could allocate that money elsewhere.
Team president Mark Shapiro made the decision to keep Dickey on just his second day on the job.
Still, even with the move to keep Dickey the Blue Jays have questions to answer in their starting rotation. David Price, Marco Estrada and Mark Buehrle are slated to hit the open market, which would mean three of the team's five starters from 2015 will be gone. It's unknown if they'll re-sign a couple of these pitchers, sign a few others in free agency, or move Aaron Sanchez and Roberto Osuna into the rotation.
As for starting rotations, the Boston Red Sox announced they have exercised Clay Buchholz's 2016 option.
The #RedSox today exercised the 2016 contract option on RHP Clay Buchholz. pic.twitter.com/KUlVpSKHnd
— Boston Red Sox (@RedSox) November 3, 2015
Buchholz, 31, was the subject of various rumors because it was unclear if the Red Sox would pay the $13 million to keep him for another season. The right-hander has been inconsistent throughout much of his career and has been unable to stay healthy for a majority of his time in the MLB. He has never made 30 starts or pitched over 190 innings in a single season.
Nonetheless, the Red Sox need all the starting pitching help they can get and Buchholz is 73-51 with a 3.85 ERA in nine seasons with Boston. He was having a good campaign in 2015 (7-7, 3.26 ERA) before hitting the DL in July with an elbow injury. He did not return and his status beyond 2015 was in limbo until today.
However, Buchholz could still be the subject of trade rumors because of his potential as well as the bargain annual salary he'll be under contract for in 2016 (and possibly 2017 if his $13.5 million option is picked up when the time comes).
Stay tuned for more updates on transactions throughout the week.
