SI: Jose Bautista on free agency, "I’d be stupid to leave" Toronto (Update P21)

[dagger]

Brunt: Jose, Edwin won't be Jays in 2017

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/brunt-jose-edwin-wont-blue-jays-2017/

Edwin says he isn't in team's plans for 2017, even though he would like to stay.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/03/19/blue-jays-dont-have-it-in-their-plans-to-re-sign-encarnacion-slugger-says

[v1n5anity]

Brunt: Jose, Edwin won't be Jays in 2017

http://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/brunt-jose-edwin-wont-blue-jays-2017/

Edwin says he isn't in team's plans for 2017, even though he would like to stay.

http://www.torontosun.com/2016/03/19/blue-jays-dont-have-it-in-their-plans-to-re-sign-encarnacion-slugger-says

Just read this on theScore app. I hope they'd just accept the number of years offered to them. Look at Estrada, he took what was offered even if he wanted more years coz he wanted to remain a Jay. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of Shapiro & Atkins and also wish they can give Jose and Edwin what they asked for or near that.

[North_of_Border]

Does not matter if Jose or EE want or not want to stay here. Fact is Jays can offer then the best possible deal, if they they offer them anything at all. They are calling the Jays bluff.

example:

No one is gonna pay Bautista 150 million. Especially considering the draft pick compensation and his age. He is just playing his luck that the JAYS will be fooled into giving it to him. If Bautista becomes a FA he will be in a situation like Cespedes. He will have to take a lower offer. Jays should let him become a FA. If Bautista wants to really be a JAY, he will re-sign then, like Cesoedes did with Mets. If he says no, Jays take the draft pick and Baustista signs somewhere else, but not at the 150 million for sure. Jays have nothing to lose in being patient.

EE with his age, injuries and draft pick comp, will get something like what Nelson Cruz got. He will not get anything like Chris Davis, even if that what he is wanting, even on a shorter term. Jays should let him become a FA. See if he really wants to be a JAY, re-sign him reasonably. or take the Draft pick and move on.

This is all just a Bluff Game on the Player's part.... dont read too much into the emotions they display.

[Kinger95]

If resigning them affects our ability to extend or re-sign Donaldson then they can both walk, he's the one that we can't afford to lose. We've never made the playoffs once all the years we've had Jose and Edwin. I feel fine with the core of Donaldson, tulo , Martin and stro.

There's so many reasons as to why signing either or both of Bautista/Edwin to long extensions is a bad idea.

their bats can really only trend down, there's nowhere to play EE and if Joey needs to get moved to Dh then your in a pickle, they're both not young and neither are particularly healthy. Let it play out in my opinion. They'll both wish they weren't so greedy when they look back and realize they passed up the best deals they were gonna get

[v1n5anity]

If resigning them affects our ability to extend or re-sign Donaldson then they can both walk, he's the one that we can't afford to lose. We've never made the playoffs once all the years we've had Jose and Edwin. I feel fine with the core of Donaldson, tulo , Martin and stro.

There's so many reasons as to why signing either or both of Bautista/Edwin to long extensions is a bad idea.

their bats can really only trend down, there's nowhere to play EE and if Joey needs to get moved to Dh then your in a pickle, they're both not young and neither are particularly healthy. Let it play out in my opinion. They'll both wish they weren't so greedy when they look back and realize they passed up the best deals they were gonna get

This. The important one to retain is Donaldson at all costs.

[Lateral Quicks]

If resigning them affects our ability to extend or re-sign Donaldson then they can both walk, he's the one that we can't afford to lose. We've never made the playoffs once all the years we've had Jose and Edwin. I feel fine with the core of Donaldson, tulo , Martin and stro.

There's so many reasons as to why signing either or both of Bautista/Edwin to long extensions is a bad idea.

their bats can really only trend down, there's nowhere to play EE and if Joey needs to get moved to Dh then your in a pickle, they're both not young and neither are particularly healthy. Let it play out in my opinion. They'll both wish they weren't so greedy when they look back and realize they passed up the best deals they were gonna get

We have control over Donaldson for three more years. He's eligible for free agency starting with his age 33 season, at which point we probably won't want to give him the 6-year, zillion dollar deal he'll likely be demanding.

[Brinbe]

As much as I love Jose/Edwin, this is probably the rational thing to do considering their age and how likely they are to play up to whatever their next contract will be.

I guess it'll be depend on our performance next season to dictate if we hold or dump at the deadline. Either way, we need to enjoy this while it lasts because the core as we know it definitely isn't sticking together for long.

[dagger]

As much as I love Jose/Edwin, this is probably the rational thing to do considering their age and how likely they are to play up to whatever their next contract will be.

I guess it'll be depend on our performance next season to dictate if we hold or dump at the deadline. Either way, we need to enjoy this while it lasts because the core as we know it definitely isn't sticking together for long.

This may be the case as things stand. The key is whether our pitching looks solid for 2017 and 2018, in which case the Jays might wish to re-visit the situation next winter if EE and/or Jose don't get the offers they are hoping for. For example, if Sanchez were to excel as a starter, and Happ and Estrada are decent, that's a deep enough rotation to keep the team competitive for 2017 and maybe 2018.

[Kinger95]

My big concern with EE/Joey is that having both of them makes you extremely limited defensively because Edwin is literally locked into the DH spot and that's a lot of money for a guy that provides no value on D. If his bat ever declines to the point where he's only 25 home runs which is very possible , then it's a bad deal. Additionally Bautista might need to be moved to DH/1st. These guys just came off great seasons and will be 1 year older after this season. you need to let them rake in contract years lol and see what they do

[Kinger95]

If resigning them affects our ability to extend or re-sign Donaldson then they can both walk, he's the one that we can't afford to lose. We've never made the playoffs once all the years we've had Jose and Edwin. I feel fine with the core of Donaldson, tulo , Martin and stro.

There's so many reasons as to why signing either or both of Bautista/Edwin to long extensions is a bad idea.

their bats can really only trend down, there's nowhere to play EE and if Joey needs to get moved to Dh then your in a pickle, they're both not young and neither are particularly healthy. Let it play out in my opinion. They'll both wish they weren't so greedy when they look back and realize they passed up the best deals they were gonna get

We have control over Donaldson for three more years. He's eligible for free agency starting with his age 33 season, at which point we probably won't want to give him the 6-year, zillion dollar deal he'll likely be demanding.

We have control of Donaldson for this upcoming season and next. So 2 more years of him then he hits FA. At any point along that time though we can extend his contract. I would hope that we could reach an extension with him to lock him up for 4 more years so that we had him through his age 37 season. The great thing about Josh is that if he ever declined defensively you could alway move him to LF/RF/1st and still get positive D out of him.

[EastBayBoy]

If resigning them affects our ability to extend or re-sign Donaldson then they can both walk, he's the one that we can't afford to lose. We've never made the playoffs once all the years we've had Jose and Edwin. I feel fine with the core of Donaldson, tulo , Martin and stro.

There's so many reasons as to why signing either or both of Bautista/Edwin to long extensions is a bad idea.

their bats can really only trend down, there's nowhere to play EE and if Joey needs to get moved to Dh then your in a pickle, they're both not young and neither are particularly healthy. Let it play out in my opinion. They'll both wish they weren't so greedy when they look back and realize they passed up the best deals they were gonna get

We have control over Donaldson for three more years. He's eligible for free agency starting with his age 33 season, at which point we probably won't want to give him the 6-year, zillion dollar deal he'll likely be demanding.

We have control of Donaldson for this upcoming season and next. So 2 more years of him then he hits FA. At any point along that time though we can extend his contract. I would hope that we could reach an extension with him to lock him up for 4 more years so that we had him through his age 37 season. The great thing about Josh is that if he ever declined defensively you could alway move him to LF/RF/1st and still get positive D out of him.

Just to clarify we have JD under control for 3 more seasons. The 2 year extension he signed this off season and he has 1 more year of control after that

[Wo1verine]

Just wish management would be honest and say that unless both take massive hometown discounts, Rogers can't afford either.

Shapiro and Atkins continue remaining super positive when everyone says Bats and EE will not be back - It's like selling false hope to fans for no good reason?

[C Court]

Brunt said what many others are saying.

1. Alex would be handling this the same way

2. The Jays can't be paying sentimentally for prior performance

3. The Jays 'core' is already older with Martin, Tulo and Donaldson. Jays can't afford aging deadwood contracts 3-4 years down the road.

4. The depleted minor league system is not going to be pumping out new cheap talent for awhile, which means Shapiro needs to allocate financial resources differently and not on two former stars past their prime.

Looks like Edwin is injured again and likely won't be ready to start the season. Seems his body is breaking down. Not sure it makes sense to offer much more than two years. Can't see anyone offering him the five years he wants.

[northernpuppy]

Just wish management would be honest and say that unless both take massive hometown discounts, Rogers can't afford either.

Shapiro and Atkins continue remaining super positive when everyone says Bats and EE will not be back - It's like selling false hope to fans for no good reason?

Outside of last season's playoff run which probably lined the pockets nicely, the Jays consistently lose money. Rogers as a conglomerate makes money, and so they put up with the Jays losses because of the content it provides for SN, The Shopping Channel, and the myriad of other outlets it has to synergize. So Rogers is never going to say they can't afford either, because they obviously can. They aren't willing to invest more into the product that has likely maximized its return for the Rogers shareholders. And they're not going to say that either

[Double Helix]

This decision to force him to play out the season is looking very prudent right about now. If he can't get it going dramatically I don't see how his next salary is near what the rumors were after the "bat flip" peak of emotions.

[The_Hater]

This decision to force him to play out the season is looking very prudent right about now. If he can't get it going dramatically I don't see how his next salary is near what the rumors were after the "bat flip" peak of emotions.

It's generally bad practice to sign aging DH types to long term deals. Let alone 2 of them. But most fans don't see it that way, they just see an organization being cheap rather than smart. It's not like the annual budget is going to change. They organization will still spend the same amount of money in salaries with or without them on the payroll.

[Randle McMurphy]

This decision to force him to play out the season is looking very prudent right about now. If he can't get it going dramatically I don't see how his next salary is near what the rumors were after the "bat flip" peak of emotions.

He's had bad stretches like this before and gone on to have great offensive seasons. As streaky as he is, I doubt this will be any different. That said, he can't play the outfield even adequately anymore and there's clearly something wrong with his throwing shoulder. He'll almost certainly be viewed as a DH this winter, which will reduce his contract considerably.

[The_Hater]

This decision to force him to play out the season is looking very prudent right about now. If he can't get it going dramatically I don't see how his next salary is near what the rumors were after the "bat flip" peak of emotions.

He's had bad stretches like this before and gone on to have great offensive seasons. As streaky as he is, I doubt this will be any different. That said, he can't play the outfield even adequately anymore and there's clearly something wrong with his throwing shoulder. He'll almost certainly be viewed as a DH this winter, which will reduce his contract considerably.

Think Jose could play 1B next season? I think he could play it better than Edwin if given a full spring training there.

[Double Helix]

The media narrative will be much more favorable to Shapiro if he can't pick up his play significantly before free agency. It will be very different from the outrage of the summer.

[dagger]

It will be interesting to try to guess the thought process of the management team as this evolves. With the starting pitching performing above expectation, and only Dickey not under contract or low-cost control for the next two seasons (unless the team pre-emptively buys out the control years for Sanchez and Stroman as part of extensions), and with three high priced position players still on the roster for at least three seasons after this, the team might wish to keep either Jose or EE if it can get them to reduce the number of years (more so reducing the number of dollars). The farm system needs 2-3 years to start bringing top talent to the major league level. There are a number of pitching prospects who might arrive early enough to take over from Estrada and Happ in 2019 if not 2018, and the farm might produce a few position players by 2019. There are some interesting prospects at A-Advanced and lower who play the same position as Martin (Pentecost if he can catch and stay healthy), Vlad Jr if he can rush through the system as fast as he claims he will, Tellez, Urena, Alford, maybe Pompey, etc. So the question is whether the Jays can bridge the gap between old and new by keeping EE or JB, or whether management prefers to rebuild, which might include eating some salary on vets. If the starting pitching wasn't doing so well, the team wouldn't be a game over .500, and this might point more towards a rebuild, but things are far from hopeless at this juncture.