Kevin Kiermaier agrees to return to Blue Jays on one-year, $10.5M deal

Centre fielder Kevin Kiermaier has an agreement to return to the Toronto Blue Jays on a one-year, $10.5-million deal, Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith confirmed Tuesday.

Tuesday’s move marks the first major move of the off-season for the Blue Jays after the chase for Shohei Ohtani ended with the two-way star signing a record deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The signing keeps the Blue Jays’ strong defensive outfield, also featuring George Springer and Daulton Varsho, intact.

Kiermaier was terrific in 2023 for Toronto, winning the Gold Glove in centre and posting his best offensive season since 2017.

The 33-year-old slashed .265/.322/.419 with eight home runs, six triples and 14 stolen bases in 129 games. On defence, he posted the most defensive runs saved (DRS) of all centre fielders (18).

Now a four-time Gold Glover, Kiermaier has played in parts of 11 big-league seasons with the Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays. In 1,043 career games, he has a .718 OPS with 90 home runs, 126 stolen bases and 468 runs scored.

Since his MLB debut in 2013, his 57 triples rank second among all hitters and his 152 DRS ranks third among all players.

A 31st-round pick of Tampa Bay in the 2010 draft out of Parkland College, Kiermaier hit free agency for the first time in 2022, inking a one-year, $9-million contract with Toronto.

He underwent hip surgery during his final year with the Rays, limiting him to just 63 games before hitting the open market. The 129 games he played for the Blue Jays tied for the second most in his career and were the most he’d played since 2019.