Edwin Encarnacion might have re-signed with the Blue Jays by now if the club had played its cards differently.

In his first interview since the winter meetings in early December, Paul Kinzer — Encarnacion’s agent in what is now a sluggish free-agent market for power hitters — told Sportsnet 590 The FAN that the slugger has six multi-year offers to consider. But a reunion with the Jays was always his top priority, and could have happened if the club hadn’t signed first baseman/DH Kendrys Morales just “two days” after offering Encarnacion $80 million over four years.

Kinzer said Encarnacion, whose home run and RBI totals since 2012 are among the highest in baseball, deserved a little time to test the market at age 33 after signing a team-friendly contract extension in July 2012.

“I don’t think it was a matter of one or two days more,” Kinzer said Wednesday. “Maybe a week. . . . A guy waits his whole career (for free agency). He at least wanted to see who was interested. A lot of teams give (their top free agents) time. Look at the Dodgers,” who re-signed closer Kenley Jansen (five years, $80 million) and third baseman Justin Turner (four years, $64 million) in the end.

There are several factors at play for teams interested in Encarnacion’s services: a glut of power hitters at the same position, the effects of the new collective agreement, and analytics that have redefined the value of power hitters over age 30.

Kinzer used the two Dodgers — who haven’t produced at Encarnacion’s level — as a comparison in stating the Jays’ original offer wasn’t high enough for a slugger with Encarnacion’s numbers, including a major league-best 127 RBIs in 2016.

“They signed back and they got market value. We told (the Jays) that was where we wanted to be. If they were close, they would have signed him,” Kinzer added.

Another lingering question is whether the Blue Jays ever really wanted Encarnacion back in the first place.

Jays management acknowledged they pursued other opportunities at the same time they were in talks with him. The club has said it didn’t want to lose out on both Encarnacion and Morales, who signed for $33 million over three seasons, which some experts suggest was too high. The club went on to sign Steve Pearce, who can also play first base, for $12.5 million over two years, all but closing the door on any potential Encarnacion deal.

“We’ve had multi-year offers from six different teams (including after the winter meetings). I just talked to two teams this morning,” Kinzer said. “It’s not that there isn’t interest. But we made it clear Edwin wanted to sign with Toronto. We did interviews, we said that . . . We weren’t blowing smoke. Other teams knew.”

Encarnacion is likely to wind up with a three-year deal rather than four in part because of the new labour deal, agreed to weeks after the free-agent market opened. Changes to the rules on draft-pick compensation for free-agent signings and the luxury tax system have had a ripple effect on all of the top unsigned free agents — including Jose Bautista, Mark Trumbo and Mike Napoli.

Kinzer said teams and agents had no idea how the new landscape would look until the agreement was announced.

“Now, people are saying we overplayed our hand,” Kinzer said. “That was not the case. It was a case of, we had no idea the Jays would move that fast.”

Encarnacion chose not to negotiate during the 2016 season, shutting down talks after spring training. Kinzer says they don’t regret that decision now.

“Edwin went through (in-season contract talks) before and it wasn’t pleasant for him,” said Kinzer, who also mentioned Yankees second baseman Starlin Castro, the former Cub, who said he didn’t eat or sleep well during his own mid-season contract ordeal.

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Encarnacion, he says, is resigned to the apparent end of his time as a Blue Jay.

“He’s looking at it the same way he plays baseball. He doesn’t get excited. Things will work out,” said Kinzer. “The only thing is the realization he isn’t going to be a Blue Jay. That’s frustrating. He wanted to finish strong there, put up numbers and (have) his name on the wall.”

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