Long-term contracts shelled out to that type of player rarely work out well, and the past six examples of said contract type aren't all that promising. The biggest red flag with the first baseman/DH is that, well, he's a first baseman/DH. Encarnacion didn't let up last season, either, playing a career high 160 games and mashing 42 home runs to go with a.

Since hitting his stride with the Blue Jays in 2012, E5 (if you want to know the origination of that nickname, look at his ‘highlights' as a third baseman) has ranked right up there with the league's premier power hitters, mashing the second most home runs (averaging 39 per year), fifth highest slugging percentage (.544), seventh highest wRC+ (146), and third best isolated power mark (.273). While the market is flush with hitters who fit this definition (Mike Napoli, Brandon Moss, Mark Trumbo, Matt Holliday, and Pedro Alvarez, to name a few), the best of the best is undoubtedly the previously mentioned Edwin Encarnacion. Counting on a rookie who was a non-prospect just a season ago and a sophomore who hasn't touched the field in a full season after a significant shoulder injury is tempting fate, and the Yankees would be wise to sign a player who can provide steady power from either first base or DH. Instead, McCann is gone and the reliability has been taken out of the Yankees' lineup. McCann represented steady production, while Austin and Bird were upside plays that weren't guarantees of success, but combined should have provided solid enough value with room for much more. With designated hitter and first base in good (if slightly uncertain) hands between the shifting crew of Greg Bird, Tyler Austin, and McCann, locking up a first baseman in Encarnacion would have been a misallocation of resources. In this case, the difference of less than a week changed the complexion of this article from 'don't sign Edwin Encarnacion' to 'well, it's worth thinking about.' If I had written this article before last Thursday's trade of Brian McCann to the Houston Astros, there would have been little reason to sign Edwin Encarnacion.

Edwin encarnacion 2016 stats