Major League Baseball transactions will resume at some point in 2022, in theory, and the Toronto Blue Jays still have adds to make.
I mentioned Schwarber as a fit in a mailbag last week because his bat is a natural plug-and-play near the top of the Jays’ order.
With a .375 OBP and .928 OPS last year for the Nationals and Red Sox, Schwarber was a more efficient hitter than Semien in his 399 at-bats.
The elder Seager entered the offseason as an obvious fit for the Blue Jays, and he remains such into the lockout.
A former All-Star and Gold Glove winner, the 33-year-old’s OPS has declined each of the last two seasons, posting a .723 mark in 2021.
From 2018 through 2020, though, Conforto owned a .365 OBP, .842 OPS, and drove in 205 RBI in 358 games.
He posted a .481 OPS in 22 games, booted balls in the field, and ran into outs on the base paths.
If the Jays are willing to take another shot on Villar, they’d bring in a guy with almost 1000 games of nearly league-average hitting, base-stealing speed, and the ability to play third, second, and some shortstop.
Beyond Villar, Seager, and some expensive top names, there are minimal options for Toronto’s second and third base holes.