Where do Jays stand with EE, Joey Bats?

TORONTO — The Blue Jays’ offseason seems to have hit a bit of a lull, but the same can’t be said about the seemingly endless speculation surrounding a pair of their marquee free agents.

Edwin Encarnacion and Jose Bautista entered the offseason as two of the premier offensive players available, but here we are deep into December, and both sluggers remain unsigned. Their markets have not developed as expected, and that has led to a constant stream of rumors about where they might end up.

Regardless of what happens in the coming weeks, it still seems extremely unlikely that either player will return to Toronto. The Blue Jays do not have standing offers on the table, and they’ve all but officially closed the door on even the slightest possibility of a reunion.

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Despite that, Toronto will continue to get mentioned as potential fits for both of these players until they sign. Here’s a closer look at some of the recent chatter and whether it should be considered valid or dismissed as only part of a bigger story:

Encarnacion’s agent speaks out Encarnacion’s agent, Paul Kinzer, went on Sportsnet 590 The Fan radio station in Toronto on Wednesday and admitted Encarnacion is coming to the realization that he “probably won’t be a Blue Jay.” Kinzer added that Encarnacion has received six offers from other teams, but he did concede that most of them were in the range of three years. That’s well below Toronto’s offer of four years and $80 million that was rejected earlier in the offseason.

Kinzer seemed caught off-guard by how Toronto general manager Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro operated this winter. He was surprised that the Blue Jays moved so quickly to sign Kendrys Morales, which was the first real sign that Toronto was going in another direction. Even after that move, …

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