How to keep Bautista in Toronto

[North_of_Border]

I read something in Jays journal saying the Jays should dump Morales and resign Bautista for say 3 to 6 million to be the new DH full term. Use the saved money on other positions. However I disagree with this. I think Jose is finished as an everyday player. And it would be an insult to keep him as a bench utility guy.

However, would you support keeping him in the organization in a coaching or management role? He is one of the greatest hitters in team history, was a solid defender in his prime and an iconic figure overall. He would do wonders for a young group of up and comers. Like Vlad just to name a guy. Also he would help Rogers with marketing the team to the fan base. Maybe even give him an honorary position until he can take over seriously.

I doubt any other team would offer him anything like that. It’s either take a position with the Jays, retire or become a bench guy for some other team. I think he might take the job in Toronto.

[C Court]

A lot of Jays fans don't like Morales, but he is a much better hitter than Jose. Next season, Jose will struggle to stay above the Mendoza line and would be lucky to hit 10 home runs. Seems like ages since Jose hit a dinger. It's time for Bautista to pack it in.

[dagger]

I support finding an organizational role for Jose, but I wouldn't sign him as a player even if he offered to come back for a small contract. If Hernandez is good enough to hold down left field, Jose makes room for Anthony Alford who is even a better prospect. Steve Pearce might have some modest trade value. And it wouldn't be easy to "dump" Morales. He has no National League value at all, and it's not hard this year to find guys who can hit 20-25 home runs and hit .250 and play at least one position in the fields, and do it for less money. So I don't yet see a market for him in the AL.

[Santoki]

I support finding an organizational role for Jose, but I wouldn't sign him as a player even if he offered to come back for a small contract. If Hernandez is good enough to hold down left field, Jose makes room for Anthony Alford who is even a better prospect. Steve Pearce might have some modest trade value. And it wouldn't be easy to "dump" Morales. He has no National League value at all, and it's not hard this year to find guys who can hit 20-25 home runs and hit .250 and play at least one position in the fields, and do it for less money. So I don't yet see a market for him in the AL.

I can't imagine Pearce commands anything at all with his track record. You just ride him and his $7 million out for another season in which he will likely spend half of on the DL anyways.

[dagger]

I support finding an organizational role for Jose, but I wouldn't sign him as a player even if he offered to come back for a small contract. If Hernandez is good enough to hold down left field, Jose makes room for Anthony Alford who is even a better prospect. Steve Pearce might have some modest trade value. And it wouldn't be easy to "dump" Morales. He has no National League value at all, and it's not hard this year to find guys who can hit 20-25 home runs and hit .250 and play at least one position in the fields, and do it for less money. So I don't yet see a market for him in the AL.

I can't imagine Pearce commands anything at all with his track record. You just ride him and his $7 million out for another season in which he will likely spend half of on the DL anyways.

I am less concerned about Pearce''s return value than opening up space for Hernandez and Alford to operate.

[Natural11]

It's hard for us to judge as fans if Jose is worthy of any kind of behind the scenes job. We can judge him on his play, but only his organization and his co-workers know if he adds value based on his teaching and interpersonal skills.

As far as bringing him back as a player, I think anyone considering that should look at his 2017 play objectively. Aside from a streak in May, he hasn't been close to a good hitter all season. He isn't making hard contact, his plate discipline is worsening, his strikeouts are way up and he is one of the worst defensive outfielders in baseball. Going beyond the stats for a moment, he just doesn't look like the same hitter anymore.

A lot of things would have to go right to have Jose succeed at DH:

1) Find a suitor for Morales willing to take him straight up, without penalty to us.

2) Jose agrees to sign a veteran minimum 1 year deal with performance bonuses.

3) Jose agrees that he will not play every day. We have other aging players who could benefit from those half-days.

4) Jose returns to pre-2016 hitting form.

5) John Gibbons agrees to play Jose based on his present value, not his legacy.

In my opinion, all of those criteria would have to be met for Jose to have a successful 2018 playing in Toronto. In other words, the fans/media have already said goodbye and paid their respects. Best to leave it at that.

[Scorpion King]

I think time has come for Blue Jays to part ways with Bautista.

Bautista ego and pride will ensure he doesnt take a bench role or a player coach role. Maybe in another 3 to 5 years. Now, he seems himself as everyday player.

I can see a team like Oakland sign him to a bargain one year contract.

[I_Like_Dirt]

I think time has come for blue jays to part ways with Toronto.

No.

[Scorpion King]

I think time has come for blue jays to part ways with Toronto.

No.

[Santoki]

I support finding an organizational role for Jose, but I wouldn't sign him as a player even if he offered to come back for a small contract. If Hernandez is good enough to hold down left field, Jose makes room for Anthony Alford who is even a better prospect. Steve Pearce might have some modest trade value. And it wouldn't be easy to "dump" Morales. He has no National League value at all, and it's not hard this year to find guys who can hit 20-25 home runs and hit .250 and play at least one position in the fields, and do it for less money. So I don't yet see a market for him in the AL.

I can't imagine Pearce commands anything at all with his track record. You just ride him and his $7 million out for another season in which he will likely spend half of on the DL anyways.

I am less concerned about Pearce''s return value than opening up space for Hernandez and Alford to operate.

I think he's still worth the roster spot. While injury prone, he's still of more value than someone like Carrera. You can fit all of them on the opening day roster.

Are we confident Alford is ready and able for full time duties?

[Skin Blues]

I think he's still worth the roster spot. While injury prone, he's still of more value than someone like Carrera. You can fit all of them on the opening day roster.

If he's worthy of a roster spot, it's by the skin of his teeth. Do we really want to get to the point where he has to be DFA'd??? He's barely hanging on. You don't want to miss out on a resurgence, but it's not like when people thought David Ortiz was finished in 2009. He was still a league average hitter at that point, and only 33 years old. Bautista will be 37 next year so a turn-around is not likely. In June I wanted to believe it was possible, but after July, and then August, and now September all being so bad, it's just not gonna happen.

The best way to keep him in Toronto is to get him season tickets for 2018.

[flatjacket1]

I am less concerned about Pearce''s return value than opening up space for Hernandez and Alford to operate.

You don't drop Pearce to make room for a rookie when you are looking to compete. If we let Estrada go and were looking to rebuild sure, but rookie growing pains don't have much space on competitive teams. To me it makes sense to give Teoscar a spot in RF this next season but dumping a viable option hoping Teoscar doesn't struggle is a joke. We've had many much waited rookie debuts look great and end up being garbage (JP Arencibia, Lawrie, Deck McGuire). Not saying Teoscar will be garbage but you can't depend on a guy with 30 good games under his belt.

A lot of Jays fans don't like Morales, but he is a much better hitter than Jose. Next season, Jose will struggle to stay above the Mendoza line and would be lucky to hit 10 home runs. Seems like ages since Jose hit a dinger. It's time for Bautista to pack it in.

If you field Bautista a whole season I can almost promise you he will have more HR than 10.

To me, Bautista makes sense to come back (after declining the option and signing for less) if we had more flexibility in our DH spot. Morales would be a good candidate to dump because of his contract, but yeah as a hitter I'd say he is a little better than Jose (Still a good hitter for sure). The only thing Jose really brings is positional flexibility. You can't plug Morales anywhere other than 1st and even at 1st he's terrible. Bautista in RF for a day every few weeks to free up the DH for a guy needing a day off the field is a nice luxury.

As is assuming you can't drop Morales (even though he is good), I wouldn't look at bring Bautista back. Makes no sense with both of them. If Morales wasn't here this would be a different conversation.

[I_Like_Dirt]

The best way to keep him in Toronto is to get him season tickets for 2018.

I prefer the idea of giving him some sort of media relations job, because, well, at least that might be pretty entertaining.

[Geddy]

I think a change of scenery and having to prove his worth to another team would do wonders for him.

[SharoneWright]

Hang a painting in Gibby's office.

[Santoki]

I think he's still worth the roster spot. While injury prone, he's still of more value than someone like Carrera. You can fit all of them on the opening day roster.

If he's worthy of a roster spot, it's by the skin of his teeth. Do we really want to get to the point where he has to be DFA'd??? He's barely hanging on. You don't want to miss out on a resurgence, but it's not like when people thought David Ortiz was finished in 2009. He was still a league average hitter at that point, and only 33 years old. Bautista will be 37 next year so a turn-around is not likely. In June I wanted to believe it was possible, but after July, and then August, and now September all being so bad, it's just not gonna happen.

The best way to keep him in Toronto is to get him season tickets for 2018.

I was referring to Pearce here.

[The_Hater]

I honestly believe that Bautista's MLB career is over. Even ignoring that we already have COF, DH and 1B well covered, I don't want to see any scenerio where he's back in Toronto regardless of the price tag.

[flatjacket1]

I honestly believe that Bautista's MLB career is over. Even ignoring that we already have COF, DH and 1B well covered, I don't want to see any scenerio where he's back in Toronto regardless of the price tag.

Considering Pedro Alvarez (29 year old 6'3 left handed hitting 1B) hit .249/.322/.504 with 22 HR and 20 2B in 2016 and couldn't even find a MLB deal (ended up signing minor league deal with O's), I feel like Bautista retiring is a fairly decent bet.

At the point if I'm Bautista and I've made 100M+ over my career, am I really going to accept a ML deal for less than 3M to fly around and try to stay in the lineup? Probably not. I get that "3M is a lot of money" but trying paying Warren Buffet 20M to spend 2 months in isolation. Obviously not comparable but when you already have more than enough to live, I don't think you are taking a major pay cut to give away that much freedom.

[The_Hater]

I honestly believe that Bautista's MLB career is over. Even ignoring that we already have COF, DH and 1B well covered, I don't want to see any scenerio where he's back in Toronto regardless of the price tag.

Considering Pedro Alvarez (29 year old 6'3 left handed hitting 1B) hit .249/.322/.504 with 22 HR and 20 2B in 2016 and couldn't even find a MLB deal (ended up signing minor league deal with O's), I feel like Bautista retiring is a fairly decent bet.

At the point if I'm Bautista and I've made 100M+ over my career, am I really going to accept a ML deal for less than 3M to fly around and try to stay in the lineup? Probably not. I get that "3M is a lot of money" but trying paying Warren Buffet 20M to spend 2 months in isolation. Obviously not comparable but when you already have more than enough to live, I don't think you are taking a major pay cut to give away that much freedom.

And it's not just his age and lack of production, when productive he was already a guy who half the teams in the league wanted nothing to do with because of his personality and attitude. He's the most despised player in MLB.

Somebody will give him a spring training look in hopes of getting a reclamation project, Oakland and Tampa seem like good bets, but nobody is giving him guaranteed money which makes him a long shot at best.

[flatjacket1]

And it's not just his age and lack of production, when productive he was already a guy who half the teams in the league wanted nothing to do with because of his personality and attitude. He's the most despised player in MLB.

Somebody will give him a spring training look in hopes of getting a reclamation project, Oakland and Tampa seem like good bets, but nobody is giving him guaranteed money which makes him a long shot at best.

Yeah I totally agree. Even on a minor league deal I don't think many teams want to touch him. That being said, I really think it makes less sense for Bautista. Financial incentive gone, a lot of this stuff he's been doing a while and competing for a role isn't something I think he wants to do.

I still think he has SOME left to offer at the plate, but DH only. In the field he has been a joke his entire career, 54 HR's is around the number he needs to be worth fielding out there. I was down for him moving to either DH or a bench bat even last year. If Morales wasn't around I'd be open to giving him a shot on a way lesser deal to compete this spring for a DH spot.

Even if Teoscar bats .220/.290/.430 with 25 HR's I'd argue that's better overall (including defense) than Bauts. Sure he makes sliding catches and stuff but Teoscar is getting underneath it and waiting on it for the out in situations where Bautista has to lay out.