The Toronto Blue Jays have added their second former Houston Astros slugger in as many days, agreeing to a three-year contract with outfielder/designated hitter Michael Brantley on Wednesday, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The Jays reached agreement on a six-year, $150 million contract with former Astros center fielder George Springer on Tuesday night, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan.
The news of Brantley’s agreement was first reported by sportscaster Hazel Mae.
Brantley, 33, has been troubled with injuries for much of his career — this past season it was a quad that caused him to spend time on the injured list. While those injuries have brought his power numbers down, he remains a dangerous hitter with a high contact rate and low strikeout ratio.
In 46 games with the Astros in 2020, alternating between left field and DH, Brantley hit. 300, with five homers, 22 RBIs and an OPS of .840.
He has hit at least .300 in five seasons since 2014, tied with four others for the most such seasons in baseball in that timespan. He also has struck out in just 10.1% of his plate appearances since 2014, third-best in baseball in that timespan, with a minimum of 2,000 plate appearances.
In a 12-year career with the Cleveland Indians and Astros, Brantley has a .297 average, with 114 homers, 640 RBIs and a .794 OPS. He’s been an All-Star four times, and in 2014 finished third in the MVP voting.
Brantley was playing on a two-year, $32 million contract he signed before the 2019 season.
ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.
