Blue Jays officially announce Marcus Semien signing

The Blue Jays Central panel discuss the signing of Marcus Semien and what it means for the Blue Jays infield and how they can mix and match different lineups.

The Toronto Blue Jays officially announced the signing of infielder Marcus Semien on Saturday.

Semien’s deal is for one year and is worth $18 million.

Semien, 30, has primarily been a shortstop during his eight MLB seasons, the past six with the Oakland Athletics, but he’s expected to slide over to second base with the Blue Jays.

His addition provides protection in the event Bo Bichette is injured, and raises the possibility Cavan Biggio and maybe Vladimir Guerrero Jr., will get the bulk of reps at third base.

If Semien resembles the player he was for the Athletics in 2019, when he produced a 7.6 WAR as calculated by FanGraphs, his impact will be substantial. His numbers dipped sharply during the small-sample size pandemic campaign – when he batted .223/.305/.374 – but he was still worth 1.2 wins.

*With files from Shi Davidi

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.