The Toronto Blue Jays added their second former Houston Astros slugger in as many days and on Wednesday agreed to a three-year contract with fielder / designated hitter Michael Brantley, a source told ESPN.
The Jays agreed on a six-year, $ 150 million contract with former Astros center George Springer on Tuesday night, sources told Jeff Passan, ESPN.
The news of Brantley’s deal was first reported by sports forecaster Hazel Mae.
Brantley, 33, has struggled with injuries for much of his career – last season it was a four-man squad that put him on the injured list. Although these injuries caused his power numbers to drop, he remains a dangerous hit with a high contact percentage and low ratios.
In 46 games with the Astros in 2020, alternating between left field and DH, Brantley beat. 300, with five homers, 22 RBIs and an OPS of .840.
He has hit at least 0.300 in five seasons since 2014, and he has been linked with four others at the same time for most of those seasons in baseball. He has also passed only 10.1% of his record appearances since 2014, the third best in baseball in that time frame, with a minimum of 2,000 record appearances.
In a 12-year career with the Cleveland Indians and Astros, Brantley averaged .297, with 114 homers, 640 RBIs and a .794 OPS. He has been an All-Star four times and finished third in the 2014 MVP poll.
Brantley played on a two-year, $ 32 million contract he signed before the 2019 season.
ESPN Statistics and information contributed to this report.