Jays, Bautista reach 5 year deal.

[Kuzzy Powers]

According to Enrique Rojas of ESPN Deportes, the Blue Jays are nearing a five-year, $65 million extension with Jose Bautista.
It's a major commitment for a player who had a .729 career OPS before last year. The Blue Jays must truly believe that Bautista's numbers from 2010 -- a league-leading 54 homers and a .995 OPS -- can be replicated

More money then I was looking to drop on him.. but he was gonna get it somewhere.

[FedEx227]

Ew. Blue Jays will regret this deal by May.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Im thinking they'll prob regret it a couple years down the line.. I can see Bautista staying "hot", but regressing rather early in his career.. I see a short shelf life here.

[FedEx227]

Honestly the money isn't TOO bad it's still not the type of guy I'd lock up to a deal like this.

The chances of him hitting anywhere near 50 homers again is slim and he had a REALLY low BABIP so his AVG is likely going to drop next year, with less homers and he doesn't present great defensive value.

I honestly don't think it's a horrible contract, but not one I sign a 31-year old coming out of an absolutely out of this world career year.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Ill be happy with 30+ and 100+ for the next 4-5 years.. if he can deliver that.

[Kuzzy Powers]

Based on a little further research.. im not really sure this deal is gonna get done @ those numbers. I think Bautista was looking for 11 or 12 mil a year? And the Jays wanted to give him 7.. so 13 is a larger number then both. Hopefully they get it done for cheaper.

[dave]

As insane deals go, this one not really that insane.
That said, I never would have offered him a long-term deal. I would have said "Jose, take the arbitration award and prove you're worth a long-term deal."
Now the Jays are on the hook for $55 million they wouldn't have had to pay.
If Bautista suddenly sucks this year ... the Jays have four more years to go.

[strahanfan92]

Contract isn't that bad, shit Bay got 66 for 4 years.

[dave]

Contract isn't that bad, shit Bay got 66 for 4 years.

But Bay was a proven player.
He didn't have 13 good months. He had a proven record.

[NAHSTE]

Numbers wise, it's not outrageous, but I agree they jumped the gun in offering it a year earlier than needed. Would have waited to see if he reverted back to pre '10 form, but it's not that bad of a deal if he can give above-average production from here on out.

I don't think anyone is expecting him to replicate last season, but he does need to prove it wasn't a complete fluke by getting at least 30-35 HR in order to justify this deal on Toronto's end.

[Lanteri]

I don't like this at all for Toronto. Since when is it good business to give 31-year-old players 5-year extensions based on one quality season?

It's not like he wasn't given ample opportunities prior to last season either, so it wasn't a holy crap he exploded onto the scene after coming over on a raft or joining from Japan or something. He is a journeyman that finally put it together for one year. And like has been said, he's under team control. Why would you not wait and see what he does this year? That's poor management at its finest.

The worst part about it is, they just managed to unload Vernon Wells, and now they decide to give a guy who's proved far less upon the time of extension, an extension. Talk about 1 step forward, 2 steps back.

And pardon me, but 5 years @ $13m a year is hardly a good deal. I saw someone use Bay as a barometer. Okay, so you're justifying it not being a poor contract by displaying an equally shitty contract? What's your point? Bay was able to get above market value thanks to a proven track record. What has Bautista done?

[strahanfan92]

My apologies, didn't realize how bad Bautista was pre 2010.

[Kuzzy Powers]

For the record.. Bautista doesnt turn 31 until October.

But its looking like this deal is indeed gonna happen.. just kinda confused because it seemed as if Bautista was willing to take less. We probably could've saved 7-8 million total and still got the deal done.

[killgod]

this isn't fuckin hockey bruhs. it's not Total Salary divided by Years.

He's probably starting much closer to what AA wanted to give him (7.6) and ending off in the high teens, likely with many strings attached for him to earn it. If that assumption is true, then it's a good signing.

Fuck it. AA knows what the fuck he's doing, so if he made the deal, it's the right fuckin move.


It was reported that not only the Jays believe that last year wasn't a fluke, that he's going to be a consistent (not 50 HR, but solid none the less) player now that he's found his stride.

He brings a competitive, "Im not scared of a big payroll" attitude, he WANTS to be here, he wants to beat those faggot Sox and Yanks, he plays 5 positions and his defensive play was underrated last year.

It's said he's been given opportunity, but really that's not entirely fair. It's not like he's had 10 years of full time playing. He had two or three almost full time seasons in Pittsburgh, which is a fucking shithole of a place to play. Likely had fuck all for coaching no? He comes to Toronto, gets some decent fucking coaching and has a great September. Comes back in 2010, doesn't miss a beat and consistently plays well from start to finish. It wasn't a monster streak that inflated his numbers, it's been consistent production at the plate from Sept 09 thru till this very day.

I think what the teams believe, which is that he's going to continue to produce at a 30HR/100RBI level, is true. He just never ended up in a situation where he could improve to where he is now.

[Boucher]

David Cameron of FanGraphs passes on an interesting bit of instant analysis, via Twitter. "With standard aging curve and 5% inflation assumption, 5/65 for Bautista values him as a +3.5 win player," he says. "Sounds about right, actually."