Bautista is talks with Jays & Realistic now

[North_of_Border]

bleacherreport.com

Not too impressive offensive year. Mediocre defense. 36 years old. Qualifying offer given.

Looks like Bautista is gonna give in a little finally. Word is he has a very very weak market. Cleveland tried to talk to him but he would prefer Toronto if the Jays can give him a respectable offer now. Thus the Jays have mutual interest in a respectable price tag and are actively talking to Bautista's camp.

Yes, good chance Jose is back now. Maybe our left fielder next year, with some time in 1B and DH to stay on the field.

There's always that chance Jose had an off year and he again starts to tare it up next season. Wouldn't that be a pleasant surprise. Especially if the Jays have him signed multi years on a bargain price.

No big pay day but atleast Jose has a chance to build a legacy as a great Blue Jay. Go down like Alomar, Delgado etc...

Opinions?

[dballislife]

if we strike out on fowler, jose is 100% our 2nd option...not getting one is a pretty big fail

[Al_Oliver]

if we strike out on fowler, jose is 100% our 2nd option...not getting one is a pretty big fail

I don't see it that way, only Fowler can field a position of need for the Jays... the draft pick has more value than Bautista at this point. I would think maybe taking a look at Desmond as a plan B to Fowler. Plan C might even be Brandon Moss

[Fairview4Life]

He already has his legacy as a great Blue Jay and I absolutely hope we bring him back.

[bluerap23]

I think this is a tactic to pressure Fowler. Same way they kicked the tires on Moreland to pressure Pearce.

[chrisanna]

Damn.realisticly like most people I forgot about Jose because of his stance and the possibility of Edwin coming back. If he is at least entertaining a return then he knows his demands were premature. If we can get Fowler and Jose, along with the other moves already made I guess it's not looking too bad

[The_Hater]

if we strike out on fowler, jose is 100% our 2nd option...not getting one is a pretty big fail

I don't see it that way, only Fowler can field a position of need for the Jays... the draft pick has more value than Bautista at this point. I would think maybe taking a look at Desmond as a plan B to Fowler. Plan C might even be Brandon Moss

Not sure I get the logic either. They're polar opposites as players and I'm pretty confident that Jose shouldn't be playing the OF full time going forward. Desmond is a good call. There are less glamorous names out there too.

[dagger]

Read on Twitter

[dagger]

As much as Jose wants to play the outfield, the team has no need to pamper him with a promise. If he needs TO now to save face, he'll have to work out a deal based on occasional outfield play and also DH or 1B duty. I'd prefer that he move on, but if the team can get him on a short term deal, say two years, it would at least placate the casual fans and keep ownership happy. Same applies to EE now that his price is coming down, although I can't see bringing back both.

[Al_Oliver]

if we strike out on fowler, jose is 100% our 2nd option...not getting one is a pretty big fail

I don't see it that way, only Fowler can field a position of need for the Jays... the draft pick has more value than Bautista at this point. I would think maybe taking a look at Desmond as a plan B to Fowler. Plan C might even be Brandon Moss

Not sure I get the logic either. They're polar opposites as players and I'm pretty confident that Jose shouldn't be playing the OF full time going forward. Desmond is a good call. There are less glamorous names out there too.

Sounds like Desmond is signing today... unfortunately, it doesn't seem like the Jays are in on him

[TR50]

Looking like Desmond is going to the Cards....what does that mean for Fowler...

[protothe]

I hope we stay away from Fowler.
His defensive numbers are garbage, and he's going to want a longer deal.
Bautista is limited in the field, but at least you can still use him as a DH, Fowler isn't good enough to be just a hitter.
Even though Fowler hit 0.040 higher than Joey, he still lost in OBP.
Plus, Joey will end up with a shorter deal.

[Santoki]

I hope we stay away from Fowler.
His defensive numbers are garbage, and he's going to want a longer deal.
Bautista is limited in the field, but at least you can still use him as a DH, Fowler isn't good enough to be just a hitter.
Even though Fowler hit 0.040 higher than Joey, he still lost in OBP.
Plus, Joey will end up with a shorter deal.

The issue with Jose is I think it's very difficult to platoon him in the OF. Are you going to platoon him against just lefties, whereby you'd move him to DH to get a bat like Upton's into the lineup? If so, that means Morales is sitting against every lefty since you don't want to play him at 1B that often.

Are you going to platoon him against righties? It wouldn't make sense because there is no lefty bat you'd want playing that often. I just dont think it makes sense to pay a guy $18 mil a year, even for 2 years, to not be a full-time player.

It just seems like neither EE or Jose fit after the Pearce/Morales signings. The only other thing you could do is play Jose full-time in RF and I think we've seen how that's turned out the past two seasons. It'll only get worse statistically and in terms of keeping him healthy.

[kingcns187]

I think with Sale going to BOsox you have to absolutely try and get Jose and his right handed bat back in the lineup. One a friendly contract tho. 1 or 2 year .

[Lateral Quicks]

At this point he'd have to come pretty cheap for it to be worthwhile. We're talking about a guy who put up 1 WAR in over 500 PAs last year, is now a liability defensively in the OF, and a team with three guys already in the 1B/DH rotation. Add in his attitude issues and I'm not surprised the market for him is weak. At the $20M per year it likely takes to sign him, I would pass.

That being said Carlos Beltran just inked a $16M one year contract for his age 40 year after a rough year, so what do I know.

[protothe]

I hope we stay away from Fowler.
His defensive numbers are garbage, and he's going to want a longer deal.
Bautista is limited in the field, but at least you can still use him as a DH, Fowler isn't good enough to be just a hitter.
Even though Fowler hit 0.040 higher than Joey, he still lost in OBP.
Plus, Joey will end up with a shorter deal.

The issue with Jose is I think it's very difficult to platoon him in the OF. Are you going to platoon him against just lefties, whereby you'd move him to DH to get a bat like Upton's into the lineup? If so, that means Morales is sitting against every lefty since you don't want to play him at 1B that often.

Are you going to platoon him against righties? It wouldn't make sense because there is no lefty bat you'd want playing that often. I just dont think it makes sense to pay a guy $18 mil a year, even for 2 years, to not be a full-time player.

It just seems like neither EE or Jose fit after the Pearce/Morales signings. The only other thing you could do is play Jose full-time in RF and I think we've seen how that's turned out the past two seasons. It'll only get worse statistically and in terms of keeping him healthy.

I wouldn't platoon him at all. Have you seen Upton hit last year? He couldn't hit **** once he came here.
His defense is an improvement over Joey, but you could also run Joey at 1B/RF/DH.

I'd sign him, and then protect him as much as possible on defense.
His bat and vision are still good. He still has great plate discipline.

[Santoki]

I hope we stay away from Fowler.
His defensive numbers are garbage, and he's going to want a longer deal.
Bautista is limited in the field, but at least you can still use him as a DH, Fowler isn't good enough to be just a hitter.
Even though Fowler hit 0.040 higher than Joey, he still lost in OBP.
Plus, Joey will end up with a shorter deal.

The issue with Jose is I think it's very difficult to platoon him in the OF. Are you going to platoon him against just lefties, whereby you'd move him to DH to get a bat like Upton's into the lineup? If so, that means Morales is sitting against every lefty since you don't want to play him at 1B that often.

Are you going to platoon him against righties? It wouldn't make sense because there is no lefty bat you'd want playing that often. I just dont think it makes sense to pay a guy $18 mil a year, even for 2 years, to not be a full-time player.

It just seems like neither EE or Jose fit after the Pearce/Morales signings. The only other thing you could do is play Jose full-time in RF and I think we've seen how that's turned out the past two seasons. It'll only get worse statistically and in terms of keeping him healthy.

I wouldn't platoon him at all. Have you seen Upton hit last year? He couldn't hit **** once he came here.
His defense is an improvement over Joey, but you could also run Joey at 1B/RF/DH.

I'd sign him, and then protect him as much as possible.

Right but how do you plan to protect him? What would be the plan for how you'd distribute his games?

[Scorpion King]

3 years 45 Million would that be reasonable ?

Player option after year 1

[Rapcity_11]

The issue with Jose is I think it's very difficult to platoon him in the OF. Are you going to platoon him against just lefties, whereby you'd move him to DH to get a bat like Upton's into the lineup? If so, that means Morales is sitting against every lefty since you don't want to play him at 1B that often.

Are you going to platoon him against righties? It wouldn't make sense because there is no lefty bat you'd want playing that often. I just dont think it makes sense to pay a guy $18 mil a year, even for 2 years, to not be a full-time player.

It just seems like neither EE or Jose fit after the Pearce/Morales signings. The only other thing you could do is play Jose full-time in RF and I think we've seen how that's turned out the past two seasons. It'll only get worse statistically and in terms of keeping him healthy.

I wouldn't platoon him at all. Have you seen Upton hit last year? He couldn't hit **** once he came here.
His defense is an improvement over Joey, but you could also run Joey at 1B/RF/DH.

I'd sign him, and then protect him as much as possible.

Right but how do you plan to protect him? What would be the plan for how you'd distribute his games?

Maybe something like this?

He plays RF against lefties. Upton in left. Pearce at 1st. Morales DH.
He plays 1B/DH against righties. Carrera in right. _____ in left. Morales 1B/DH.

Doubt Pearce sits every game against righties though.

[Santoki]

I wouldn't platoon him at all. Have you seen Upton hit last year? He couldn't hit **** once he came here.
His defense is an improvement over Joey, but you could also run Joey at 1B/RF/DH.

I'd sign him, and then protect him as much as possible.

Right but how do you plan to protect him? What would be the plan for how you'd distribute his games?

Maybe something like this?

He plays RF against lefties. Upton in left. Pearce at 1st. Morales DH.
He plays 1B/DH against righties. Carrera in right. _____ in left. Morales 1B/DH.

Doubt Pearce sits every game against righties though.

Do you also want Carrera playing that much? Most rotations have generally 1-2 lefties in it? So you're playing Carrera almost 60%-70% of games?