Kirk Agrees to Extension as Blue Jays Roster Set
Scherzer gets thumbs up and will start Game 3
It was back in July, 2020, during the Blue Jays’ unique summer training camp at Rogers Centre when Alejandro Kirk first appeared on the major-league team’s radar. The discussion among coaches at that time, as MLB prepared for its Covid-19 shortened season, was about that odd-looking, 21-year-old non-roster catcher from Tijuana, Mexico. He may, in fact, have been the best pure hitter in attendance, but the idea of Kirk being a major-leaguer, when he had really just been brought in to catch bullpens, seemed out of the question. After all, the year before he had only played in A-Lansing and A-Dunedin and wasn’t even Top 5 in the organization’s own catching depth chart. But the bat spoke volumes and real discussions continued.
Was there room on the Jays’ 25-man, regular-season roster for this bowling ball of an athlete and his superior bat-to-ball skills on a team that already had catchers Danny Jansen and Reese McGuire ahead of him on the depth chart? Against all odds, logic overcame the game’s conservative tradition and the answer was “Yes there is room.” Now, less than five years later, Kirk is about to sign an extension of five years, $58.0-million, that will keep in a Jays uniform through the 2030 season. Ironically, it is his offensive skills that have been in question the past two seasons and not his defence.
Kirk, is generously listed at 5-8, 245 lbs. Thus, because of his unathletic appearance, Kirk suffered in early favourable comparisons to another oddly configured hitting machine at the time, a roly-poly Twins utility player named Willians Astudillo, a Twin Cities fan favourite, who in July of 2020, was coming off an impressive season in Minnesota, producing nothing but linedrives but with no real position to which he could be realistically assigned as an everyday player. For convenience sake, Astudillo was listed as a catcher, third-baseman, first-baseman DH. But mainly batter’s box.
That, unfortunately, was the same, preconceived comparison that Kirk was compelled to overcome as he broke camp with the major-league club in his rookie 2020 season. But over the course of those past five seasons, Kirk has competed with and outlasted a group of Jays catching teammates at the major-league level that has included Danny Jansen, Reese McGuire, Caleb Joseph, Riley Adams, Gabby Moreno and Brian Serven. He is now joined by Tyler Heineman, who is clearly his backup.
How did he get here as the main man behind the dish? The 2022 season was a breakout performance for Kirk. He started the All-Star game, batted .285 for the season, with 14 homers and 63 RBIs, making 74 starts among his 78 games as catcher, with a 4.0 WAR, earning a Silver Slugger. But therein lies the rub. Durability at baseball’s physically most demanding position. Having slain the dragons of internal competition and being rewarded, now, as one of the highest paid Mexican-born athletes in team-sport history, critics point out that his starts behind the plate, in order, since 2020 are 6 games in ‘20, then 40, 74, 84 and 89. Those last four numbers are in full 162 games season. It’s a cliche, but it’s a marathon and there are not very many marathoners that cast a shadow, the size of Alejandro Kirk.
Reported Details of the new Contract
The Kirk contract (first reported by Robert Murray of Fansided) will be five-years, $58.0M, through 2030. Kirk’s current 2025 deal remains in place, negotiated prior to arbitration, at $4.6M. But up front in the new deal is a $6M signing bonus, which effectively boosts this year’s Kirk compensation to $10.6M. The advantage to the bonus for the Jays is that it is paid out now, but averaged out and assigned over the course of the contract and thus does not significantly hurt them in the 2025 luxury tax calculation. The 2026 season would have been Kirk’s last prior to free-agency, so the team has, in effect, bought that campaign out, plus his first four years of free-agency. The average annual value of the deal, if you include this current season and the bonus is $10.4M, which makes it a good deal for both sides. The expectation and the necessity in 2025 and beyond will be for Kirk to start between 110-120 games.
Here are the glitzy career numbers for Kirk as catcher for the current Jays’ starters.
Jose Berrios career 4.07 ERA … with Kirk 3.99 ERA
Kevin Gausman career 3.84 ERA … with Kirk 2.90 ERA
Chris Bassitt career 3.59 ERA … with Kirk 3.11 ERA
Alek Manoah career 3.34 ERA … with Kirk 3.13 ERA
Bowden Francis career 2.88 ERA … with Kirk 3.62 ERA
Final 26-man roster details
Rotation (5): Berrios, Gausman, Max Scherzer, Bassitt, Francis … IL: Manoah… Surprise: It was a coin flip as to whether Scherzer would be able to start the season on the active list, given the reoccurrence of a thumb injury that dates back to 2023. But he started a game on Saturday in Fort Myers and MGR John Schneider has pencilled him in for Saturday’s Game 3.
Bullpen (8): RH Jeff Hoffman, RH Yimi Garcia, RH Chad Green, RH Nick Sandlin, RH Yariel Rodriguez, LH Brendan Little, LH Richard Lovelady, RH Jacob Barnes … IL: RH Erik Swanson, RH Zach Pop, RH Ryan Burr. Surprises: LH Ryan Yarbrough took an opt-out in his free agent deal and is now able to sign with another team, leaving room for Barnes.
Catcher (2): Kirk and Heineman
Infield (6): 1B-3B Vlad Guerrero Jr, 2B Andres Gimenez, SS Bo Bichette, 3B-SS Ernie Clement, 3B-1B-2B Will Wagner, 2B-LF Davis Schneider … Surprise: 3B-RF Addison Barger had a great spring and will start the season at AAA-Buffalo
Outfield (5): George Springer, Anthony Santander, Myles Straw, Nathan Lukes, Alan Roden … IL: Daulton Varsho … Surprise: A pleasant one saw Rodon rewarded for the moment with a 26-man roster spot. A decision will need to be made when Varsho returns.
Blue Jays Schedule for the Week: The team flew to Toronto on Sunday night. Players will have Monday completely off, then workouts on Tuesday and Wednesday, with a four game series vs. the Orioles from March 27-30 at Rogers Centre.