Blue Jays sign Kendrys Morales to 3-year, $33 million deal

The Blue Jays have agreed to a 3-year, $33 million deal with designated hitter/first baseman Kendrys Morales, according to multiple reports. The deal was first reported by Christopher Meola.

Morales is the second significant addition of the day for the Blue Jays, who also signed Cuban infielder Lourdes Gurriel to a 7-year, $22 million deal Friday. Toronto has been the most active American League team in free-agent news thus far, adding Morales and Gurriel while losing right-hander R.A. Dickey to the Braves.

Morales will likely take over the designated hitter role for the Jays, who may lose both Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista on the free-agent market. While the addition of Morales does not completely rule out a reunion between the Jays and Encarnacion, it does make it much more likely for the club to re-sign both Encarnacion and Bautista.

Morales, 33, hit .263/.327/.468 with 30 homers and 96 RBI in 154 games for the Royals last season, in the final year of a 2-year, $17 million deal he signed with the club at the Winter Meetings in 2014. Morales is a veteran of 10 major-league seasons with the Angels (2006-12), Mariners (2013), Twins (2014), Mariners (2014) and Royals (2015-16).