Toronto Blue Jays give Troy Tulowitzki $52 million to go away in contract payout

This five-time All-Star US gun endured one of the most humiliating slap-downs imaginable when his team dropped the sword on him.

Troy Tulowitzki with the mother of all redundancy payouts.

A five-time All-Star shortstop is suddenly on the market.

Major League Baseball (MLB) franchise the Toronto Blue Jays pulled a shocker and released Troy Tulowitzki, the club announced on Wednesday (AEDT), after he missed all of 2018 following surgery to remove bone spurs in both heels. They will pay him $AUD52 million not to be on their roster any longer.

Tulowitzki still had two years left on his contract, a 10-year, $217 million pact he originally signed with the Rockies in 2010 before being traded to Toronto in 2015.

His agent, Paul Cohen, seemed to appreciate the timing of the release.

The @BlueJays just released Troy Tulowitzki and are on the hook for almost $40 million of his remaining salary #Toronto pic.twitter.com/tqHpsfaAmE

— blogTO (@blogTO) December 11, 2018

Troy Tulowitzki has been released.#BlueJays have decided to eat $38 million to make him go away.

— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) December 11, 2018

Troy Tulowitzki is set up for two years. 38 million dollars. He could cobble shoes with Daniel Day Lewis.

Instead, he’s willing to change positions and resurrect his career elsewhere.

Good for him. Always liked the talent. The brittle body...not so much.

— Dan Buffa (@buffa82) December 11, 2018

“If they are really going to go with young guys next year, it’s best to give Troy the opportunity now to seek out the best situation,” Cohen told The Athletic. “In that regard, we’re very grateful to both (Blue Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro) and (general manager) Ross Atkins. They could have made a decision in the spring, but it would be a much bigger challenge then vs now, when not a lot of offseason has taken place.”

In Tulowitzki’s absence last year, the Blue Jays turned to Aledmys Diaz and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. The former has since been traded to the Houston Astros, but one of Toronto’s top prospects, shortstop/second baseman Bo Bichette Jr., is expected to be ready soon.

Big Baseball Buyouts (paid not to play)

1. Josh Hamilton, Angels, $68M

2. Pablo Sandoval, Red Sox, $48.6M

3. Troy Tulowitzki, Blue Jays, $38M

4. Prince Fielder, Tigers, $30M

5. Bobby Bonilla, Mets, $29.8M*

*Deferred Deal

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) December 11, 2018

The 34-year-old Tulowitzki last played on July 28, 2017, when he sprained his ankle and suffered ligament damage trying to beat out a ground ball. He had offseason surgery, which led to the bone spurs and another surgery in April. He said in August he expected to be ready in time for spring training in 2019.

When he hasn’t been sidelined by injuries across 12 seasons in the big leagues, Tulowitzki has batted .290 with an .856 OPS and won two Gold Gloves.

Troy Tulowitzki got the mother of all redundancy payouts.

This article originally appeared in the New York Post and was reproduced with permission