‘Didn’t want him’: How Encarnacion went from trade throw-in to Blue Jays icon

After trading away franchise stalwarts Roy Halladay and Vernon Wells in consecutive off-seasons around the turn of the 2010s, the Toronto Blue Jays were in search of a new batch of stars to lead the club into its next era of winning baseball.

José Bautista had arrived in a major way in 2010, bashing a Blue Jays single-season record of 54 homers before inking a five-year extension worth $64 million in February 2011.

But even with Bautista's breakout, Toronto still needed impact talent to support its slugging right-fielder.

Luckily for the Blue Jays, another middle-of-the-order threat was already on their roster, even if they didn’t know it yet.

Ahead of the 2009 trade deadline, Toronto had shipped future Hall of Fame third baseman Scott Rolen to the Cincinnati Reds for a package headlined by pitching prospect Zach Stewart, which also included right-hander Josh Roenicke and third baseman Edwin Encarnación.

The Blue Jays Way documentary on Sportsnet Sportsnet is giving fans a new way to celebrate the Toronto Blue Jays' 50th season. The Blue Jays Way is an in-depth, seven-part original series that documents the winding journey from the franchise's beginnings to the 2026 run to the World Series. Check out the sixth part of the documentary, Flipping the Script, on Sunday, Aug. 16, following Toronto's game against the New York Yankees.

Little did the Blue Jays know that Encarnación, who was slashing .209/.333/.374 at the time of the trade, would end up being the prize of the return from Cincinnati.

"We didn't want him," then-Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos said in Part 6 of the Sportsnet documentary, The Blue Jays Way , commemorating the franchise's 50th season. "Edwin was forced on us. Yonder Alonso was supposed to be the headliner in the deal, and Zach Stewart's the guy we wanted.

"Alonso being in the deal leaked. And once it leaked, the Reds took him off the table because the fan base reacted."

(The sixth part of The Blue Jays Way: Flipping the Script will air on Sunday, Aug. 16, following Toronto's game against the New York Yankees on Sportsnet and Sportsnet+.)

So, the trade was consummated with Stewart, Roenicke and Encarnación heading north to join the Blue Jays on their way to a 75-87 finish.

"I was a young guy, and now I got to go to Toronto, another country to play baseball," Encarnación said in the documentary. "It was very hard for me, but after I got there, everything changed."

Although he ultimately ended his time in Toronto as a franchise legend, Encarnación didn't quite hit the ground running with the Blue Jays.

Over his final 42 games of 2009, the Dominican corner infielder posted a .748 OPS, following that up with a .787 mark and 21 homers in 2010 — respectable numbers, but nothing that showed the explosion that was on the horizon.