Jays Exercise Encarnacion's Option, Decline Rauch's

The Toronto Blue Jays exercised corner infielder/designated hitter Edwin Encarnacion's $3.5 million club option for 2012, the club announced.

At the same time, the team announced that the $3.75 million 2012 option on right-handed reliever Jon Rauch has been declined.

Encarnacion, 28, started the season hitting .243/.275/.342 with only one homer in his first 160 plate appearances. But thanks to an excellent summer, Encarnacion finished the season hitting .272/.334/.453 - giving him the same OPS he did in 2010.

Jon Rauch had arguably his worst season as a reliever, posting a 4.85 ERA in 52 innings of work out of the bullpen. His peripherals weren't strong either, a 6.23 K/9 is Rauch's worst rate since 2004 and isn't a good enough to rate to walk over 6% of batters faced. While Rauch is a Type B free agent, the Jays would be taking a risk by offering it to the righty. He could very well accept, and earn more through arbitration than he would in the open market.