Signing Edwin Encarnacion is a colossal upgrade at designated hitter for the Cleveland Indians, who got to the World Series despite an underwhelming season from Mike Napoli, whose .239/.335/.465 line was roughly in line with the AL average for DHs (.254/.328/.452), including part-timers and substitutes.

In 10 more games and 57 more plate appearances, Encarnacion had 12 more doubles than Napoli, eight more homers, nine more walks, and 56 fewer strikeouts, along with comfortable advantages in any rate state that matters, including 30 points of wOBA and a 134 to 113 lead in the park-adjusted wRC+. Encarnacion was just better, by a lot, and it's more than a two-win upgrade for Cleveland even if we assume some age-related decline for him in his age-34 season.

I wrote at the start of the offseason that Encarnacion was a good bet for some age-related decline because he's an "old man's skills" player, delivering value with walks and power, but striking out a bit and bringing no speed or defense to the table. I used that to argue that while he might want four years and $80 million, I'd balk at those terms; instead, Cleveland gets him for three years and a reported $60 million overall, with the chance for four and $80 million if they exercise his $20 million option ($5 million buyout) for 2020.

But of all teams potentially interested in Encarnacion, Cleveland has the most to gain from him, on the field and financially, in 2017: They won the AL pennant, they return essentially the same roster this year but with healthier pitching, and they just upgraded at their biggest hole on the field. The marginal gain for them from the two to three extra wins they just bagged is enormous -- those could very easily be the wins that give them the division, or an extra home playoff game, or in a worst-case scenario a wild-card berth. If he gets them back into October, in Year 1 they'll recoup a lot of the $65 million guarantee and could then handle the likelihood that by Year 3 he won't be a $20 million player anymore.

The biggest losers here are the Toronto Blue Jays, Encarnacion's previous employer. The Jays jumped way too soon in this year's DH-laden free-agent market and signed a player who might not be one-quarter as good as Encarnacion for more than half the price. Kendrys Morales wasn't even a one-win player last year, and in 2014 he posted a .274 OBP, but the Jays gave him three years and $33 million -- so they're paying him 55 percent of Encarnacion's salary to produce maybe 25 percent of the value, maybe even less. The Blue Jays didn't get younger, and they didn't commit to fewer years. They saved money, but the team got worse. I'm rarely a fan of November free-agent signings, which often come before we get a sense of the market's direction, but this one appears to be a serious overpayment, especially with a lot of similar players -- including Mark Trumbo, Pedro Alvarez or even the familiar face of Jose Bautista -- still available.

The team that should be most active in that segment of the market now should be the Texas Rangers, who seemed to be a logical fit for Encarnacion since they are a current contender with no obvious regular on the roster now at first base or DH, although they have several players (Jurickson Profar, Joey Gallo, Ryan Rua) whom they could use in a platoon or job-share at either spot.

I don't think Alvarez is that much better a bet than Gallo, as they're similar hitters and I don't know that Alvarez's predictability is worth the cost increase over Gallo's upside. And of course Bautista has some history with Rangers second baseman Rougned Odor, although some wounds heal quickly with money and winning. But somewhere in here is a real opportunity for the Rangers to improve by a win or two at relatively low cost, especially if someone like Bautista is willing to do a one-year deal to try to re-establish his value -- if not in Texas, perhaps in Tampa Bay, where he'd become an intriguing trade piece in July if he recovers some of his pre-2016 form.