Ernie Clement has become the kind of player every team wants and few teams can truly replace. He doesn’t just fill a spot - he absorbs whatever Toronto asks of him, and that flexibility has made him one of the Blue Jays’ most valuable pieces.
In 2026, Clement made his first All-Star team and was the most-voted player. If you were picking one utility-type difference-maker for Toronto, he’d be the choice.
Myles Straw is in that conversation too, but Clement stands out because he has turned himself into an everyday presence. Over the last three seasons, he has played 437 games, and among Blue Jays players in that span, only Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has more with 459.
George Springer sits just behind Clement at 411.
The difference, though, is role. Guerrero Jr. isn’t being bounced around to patch holes.
Clement is. In 2026, he logged time at second base, third base and shortstop.
Stretch that to the last three seasons, and he has also appeared at first base and left field.
That kind of workload matters. Since 2024, no Blue Jays player has logged more defensive innings than Clement, who has piled up 3,595 across those five positions. The only other Toronto player to bounce around that much is Isiah Kiner-Falefa, who has seen action at four spots, including 273 innings at second base, 335 at third, 107 at shortstop and one inning in center field.
And the value isn’t just about showing up anywhere. Clement has been productive while doing it.
Looking at Toronto players who have logged at least 1,000 defensive innings from 2024 through 2026, ordered by Fielding Run Value, Alejandro Kirk sits first, followed by Daulton Varsho, who is no longer with the club after being traded to the Houston Astros at the trade deadline, and Andres Gimenez, who grades as the best infield defender in the group. Clement comes next, and that’s what makes his case so strong: he has delivered positive defensive value while constantly shifting around the diamond.
George Springer and Bo Bichette, meanwhile, posted the worst FRV marks in that span.
The Blue Jays could make Clement’s life easier if they add more infield depth. When Texas Rangers infielder Josh Smith came to Toronto, the immediate thought was what that kind of glove could mean in the bigger picture.
A player with that sort of profile - similar to Clement’s - would give the Jays another utility option and open the door for Clement to spend more time at second base, with Gimenez staying at shortstop. That setup would give Toronto a very strong defensive middle infield.
Third base would actually be the best fit for Clement from a numbers standpoint. Since 2024, he has posted his best defensive results there, with +8 FRV.
But that spot is currently occupied by Japanese player Kazuma Okamoto. Even so, there’s at least some reason to wonder whether Toronto may eventually look at moving Okamoto elsewhere, since he finished his rookie season with -2 FRV, -2 in Range and -1 in In.
DP over 1,228 innings at third.
For now, the most realistic path looks like Clement at second and Okamoto at third. Clement has also been positive at second, where he owns a +4 FRV.
The bigger issue for Toronto is that Clement is being asked to cover too many gaps for too long. The Blue Jays still don’t know how much interest they have in Smith, but finding another infielder with his kind of skill set would matter. It would give Toronto more stability and help keep Clement in the role that best suits him.
That matters because the Blue Jays need him starting at second base as long as possible. In 2026, he posted an 88 wRC+ there.
He was the cheapest answer to Toronto’s defensive problems, but the offense dipped when he had to take over as the starter in other spots. His OPS was .677 - close to the .685 he posted in his best season in 2025 - but it dropped to .569 at third base and .581 at shortstop.
Toronto has clearly valued Clement’s effort. The problem is what happens when the defense stays thin and he keeps getting stretched beyond one role. The more that happens, the more his offense can suffer, and that ripple effect ends up hurting the balance of the team.
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Thats why Toronto is still weighing an outside addition in the outfield, even with Batemans rise changing the conversation. The Jays want to bolster the lineup and give the rookie some support rather than hand him the entire burden, which is why established names such as Seiya Suzuki and Randy Arozarena have come up as possible fits. For a team trying to sharpen its offense, the question is no longer whether Bateman belongs, but who can help make his emergence easier to absorb. [Read more 🡒]