Yankees: Don’t expect to see Edwin Encarnacion back in 2020

Edwin Encarnacion was a great midseason acquisition by Brian Cashman and the Yankees but in the ALCS against the Astros he struggled mightily which was a big reason why their season is now over. This offseason the Yanks can pick up a $20M club option to bring the veteran slugger back in 2020, but it’s much more likely they’ll pay a $5M buyout clause and let him walk as a free agent.

When the Yankees traded for Encarnacion on June 16th a lot of fans including myself wondered why the move was made. It only cost the Yankees a lower level prospect to bring him to New York, but there wasn’t really a need for another right-handed power bat in a lineup already filled with them. However, as the injuries continued to pile up acquiring him proved to be very necessary.

The 36-year-old got off to a bit of a slow start with the Yanks but after the All-Star break, he caught fire and helped carry the offense up until he went down with a right wrist fracture on August 3rd against Boston. Once he came back a month later he picked up right where he left off until he suffered another injury on September 12th, this time a left oblique strain.

Somehow, Encarnacion was able to return for the postseason even though the injury forced him to miss the final 15 games of the regular season. Despite the long layoff, he showed no sign of rust during the ALDS against the Twins when he hit .308 with two doubles and two RBi in 13 at-bats.

Unfortunately, once he faced off against the Houston pitching staff it all went downhill for Edwin and he looked like a complete shell of himself throughout the series. In five games and 18 at-bats, he batted .056 with 11 strikeouts and zero RBI. He failed to come through with RISP multiple times and looked overmatched pretty much every time he stepped to the plate. It was shocking to see especially after he swung the bat so well against the Twins.

Obviously, the Astros pitching staff is better than Minnesota’s but I don’t think anyone expected him to look as helpless as he did and strike out that many times. That’s not the hitter Encarnacion has been over the course of his great career which makes you wonder if the oblique impacted his ability to perform. Brian Cashman refuted that possibility when asked about it on Thursday during his season-ending press conference, saying he was a completely healthy player during the ALCS.

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I find that hard to believe given Encarnacion’s track record but there’s no point in dwelling on the past now. Looking ahead to the offseason, I think we all expect him to leave the Yankees and join another team as a free agent. It doesn’t make much sense paying him $20M to be the DH next season when that money could be put to better use elsewhere on starting pitching or bringing back guys like Didi Gregorius, Dellin Betances, and Brett Gardner.

Encarnacion was definitely needed in 2019, but next season if everyone is healthy the Yankee offense is going to be just fine without him. Giancarlo Stanton will likely be the primary DH and they’re covered at first base as well with some combination of DJ LeMahieu, Luke Voit and Mike Ford.

He had some nice moments in New York and it was a joy for Yankee fans to watch him trot around the bases with his parrot but it’s time to move on.