The Toronto Blue Jays and first baseman Justin Smoak came to terms on a two-year contract extension with an option for the 2019 campaign Saturday.
According to Barry Davis of Sportsnet, the deal will pay Smoak $4.125 million in each of the first two years, and the third-year option is worth $6 million. There is also a $250,000 buyout included in the pact.
The 29-year-old Smoak entered play Saturday hitting .234 with nine home runs and 23 RBI on the season.
The new contract prevents Smoak from hitting free agency during the offseason, per Chris Cotillo of SB Nation.
Smoak served in a platoon role for the Jays at first base last season, but with Chris Colabello serving an 80-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's policy against performance-enhancing drugs, Smoak has been the primary starter.
The former first-round pick of the Texas Rangers hit 18 home runs and drove in a career-high 59 runs in 2015, but he hit just .226 and has a career batting average of .225 across seven seasons with the Rangers, Seattle Mariners and Blue Jays.
Smoak has a power bat and three seasons with 18 or more home runs to his credit, but his potential has long been capped due to his inconsistency in terms of getting on base.
Toronto boasts a power-laden lineup with Jose Bautista, Edwin Encarnacion, Josh Donaldson and Troy Tulowitzki, but both Bautista and Encarnacion are set to become free agents during the offseason, according to Spotrac.com.
Smoak is nowhere close to being as complete as Bautista and Encarnacion are, but keeping him in the fold will allow the Jays to preserve some of their pop even if one or both of their key free agents decide to walk.
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