TORONTO -- The departure of Edwin Encarnacion has upset a lot of Blue Jays fans, but there's at least one man who could become a big beneficiary from all of the fallout.
Promising first baseman Rowdy Tellez now has a relatively clear path to the big leagues following the loss of Encarnacion, who signed a three-year deal with the Indians this offseason. Tellez, Toronto's ninth-best prospect, according to MLBPipeline.com, wasn't expected to make his debut until 2018, but there's an outside chance that plan will change based on necessity.
The Blue Jays will open the year with a first-base platoon of Justin Smoak and Steve Pearce.