As you may be aware, Daulton Varsho will take over in left field from the late Kevin Kiermaier, leaving one of the team’s few vacancies in center field. The Blue Jays should definitely get a power hitter to man left field, but first, let’s examine several possibilities that have been connected to the team.
According to Jason Lee, the Blue Jays have at least given Korean outfielder Jung Hoo Lee a check-in.
Said this a few days ago, but Lee Jung-Hoo, whose agent is Scott Boras, has at least received an update from the #BlueJays. They are now closer to Boras and finished second in the Ha-Seong Kim race a few years back.
The 25-year-old, who has played in the Korean Baseball Organization his whole career, slashed.318/.406/.455 in 2023 after making 387 plate appearances. Lee has a reputation for having an excellent eye because his BB% was greater (12.7%) than his K% (5.9%).
In 2022, he had his greatest season with a.349/.421/.575 slash line in 627 plate appearances (66 walks to 32 strikeouts). He also had 23 home runs. In 3947 plate appearances during his career, Lee is slashing.340/.407/.491 with 65 home runs in the KBO. In addition, he has 304 strikeouts against 383 walks.
Apart from a farewell bat, Lee sustained an ankle injury in August that prevented him from playing out the season. The 25-year-old, who was posted on December 4, 2023, has the potential to fetch the highest-ever contract from the KBO.
On Wednesday afternoon, Jon Heyman claimed that there was already growing interest in the 25-year-old. The San Diego Padres, who have virtually traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees, are one team that has shown interest.
With Korean CF Jung Hoo Lee, things are already starting to simmer. The Padres are a potential destination, particularly if they successfully execute the exoected Soto trade to the Yankees. Others exist.Even though Lee lacks power, the Jays will benefit from his ability to make contact and get on base because some have even called him an above-average defender.. Taylor is another option that has been connected to the Blue Jays. Most recently, on Wednesday afternoon, Jon Morosi claimed that the Jays were interested.
With just 388 plate appearances, the 32-year-old center fielder hit a career-high 21 home runs and slashed.220/.278/.442 during his time with the Minnesota Twins in 2023. Though he only walked 6.7% of the time, he had an astonishingly high 33.5 K%. With this, he achieved his second-highest career wRC+ of 96.
Although he isn’t as good defensively as the now-departed Kevin Kiermaier, he still performs well in the outfield. He only got 5 Defensive Runs Saved and 8 Outs Above Average in the previous season, which is quite low for him. But in the two seasons before, he had 19 DRS in each and 18 OAA in 2021, the season he won the Gold Glove.
Not to reopen old wounds, but it appeared that he would catch the ball during the Wild Card games if it was struck in his area. The Blue Jays may be interested for that reason.
The Jays don’t have a lot of internal options, so they will need to either acquire a player or make a trade to cover this void.
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