Jose Bautista Nearing a New Deal with the Blue Jays

Jose Bautista and the Toronto Blue Jays – one of this offseason’s most compelling on-again off-again story lines, has nearly reached its conclusion.

The word came late last night from Jesse Sanchez of MLB.com that the Toronto Blue Jays and Jose Bautista were quickly approaching an agreement on a new contract. Many awoke this morning to the news and responded with this sentiment – “it’s about time”.

Depending on who you speak to, the Blue Jays either had no interest whatsoever in bringing back Jose Bautista, or they were just playing coy this whole time in an attempt to drive down Jose Bautista’s market. If that was the case, it sounds like it worked; the latest report from Jon Heyman of FanRag Sports pegs the deal at two years and $36 million for Jose Bautista.

This offseason has been particularly difficult for sluggers like Jose Bautista (and to a lesser extent, Edwin Encarnacion). Any other year, these guys would have no problem whatsoever fetching multi-year contracts, likely in excess of nine figures. But instead, Jose Bautista may have to settle for $37 million and Edwin Encarnacion inked for only $60 million dollars in guaranteed money.

I don’t think Jose Bautista was the Blue Jays’ first choice to fill one of their corner outfield spots – and the Blue Jays probably weren’t Jose Bautista’s preferred landing spot, either. But it really is an ideal fit for both sides.

If Jose Bautista’s deal is a two-year contract, the Blue Jays have a power hitter locked up in the interim and it’s a solid short-term solution until the next crop of Blue Jays prospects are ready to take over the outfield. For Jose Bautista, he returns to a city (and country) where he’s beloved. If he were to sign in any other city than Toronto, I’m not sure that’s still the case.

But regardless of whether it’s a one-year deal or a two-year deal, this is a good solution for the Blue Jays in the interim. They had around $20 million dollars to play with anyway, and aside from a trade for a high-impact player like Andrew McCutchen, this was the next best deal the Blue Jays could’ve done to fill out their lineup.

The viability of Bautista as an everyday outfielder is still a big question; I’m still not convinced he could hold up to the rigors of playing the outfield on a regular basis. But if the Blue Jays rotate him around several positions – perhaps left field, right, field, first base and designated hitter – that could go a long way to helping preserve Jose Bautista for the duration of his contract.

Despite all the talk of Jose Bautista as an aging player and a declining asset in the outfield, there’s a tremendous amount of upside in Jose Bautista’s bat. Although he had a down year in 2016, it was the first year since 2009 that he wasn’t an All-Star.

This isn’t the exact scenario in which Jose Bautista and the Blue Jays envisioned things playing out, but a reunion between Bautista and the Blue Jays in the short-term is the perfect play.