Blue Jays get Extension With Jose Bautista 5yrs/64 mill

[Randle McMurphy]

5 years is far too many. Hopefully a couple of those years are team options (for our payroll sake)I don't see this guy hitting 30Hrs in a season with us.

I feel like 30hrs a season is possible from him. Why wouldn't it be? His swing generates a lot of power and he's got pretty good plate discipline. Even if pitchers start pitching around him more, I think 30 hrs is still achievable for him.

Easily achievable. Even the old, mediocre version of Bautista with full-time ABs would have hit 25 HR a season.

[Hoopstarr]

I thought AA's negotiation skills and Jose's loyalty would've put it around 10m/yr with at least one of the 5 years being a team option. Heck, I would've made it 15m/yr if he accepted 3 years plus 2 team options so annual salary is not the issue; I just don't like long contracts.

[luvtheteam]

The Werth deal helped us unload Wells, but has caused us to overpay some for Bautista. In the big picture i think we've come out ahead with a bit more flexibility and a change to the team makeup.

We really need Bautista to produce though. If this is one of those take the money and run deals it's going to hurt us a lot.

[spykelee]

I thought AA's negotiation skills and Jose's loyalty would've put it around 10m/yr with at least one of the 5 years being a team option. Heck, I would've made it 15m/yr if he accepted 3 years plus 2 team options so annual salary is not the issue; I just don't like long contracts.

Yea I think I feel close to the same as this. I would've taken higher dollars for less years, but like schad said, perhaps bautista wanted no part of that...

[Homer Jay]

I don't mind it at all.

Plain and simple, we do the one-year arby and he has another 50+ HR season he goes from the $13 he got, to a ton of teams offering $20-$25 mil per. Even if he drops to 30-35 HRs he is worth that. After three years he is still tradable at what is left on his deal. It seems Cito/Murphy fixed his swing and got his head right. I don't see him regressing substantially like some of you fear.

Although us gurus love the young pitching staff, it is JBau that Rogers can market this team around to the average fan. 54 HRs without a hint of juice is a great marketing tool for any team.

[Michael Bradley]

I can see some of the reasoning behind it. AA is all about getting impact talent, and with Bautista already on the team (i.e. all it costs to lock him up is money), I can see the logic in signing him and not risking losing a signable impact bat when he is sitting on your lap. The problem, again, is the years. Bautista's age and previous history really do not translate to a five year deal. Three years would have been ideal, even if it meant paying more annually as others have mentioned. Looks like Bautista played hardball and the Jays caved.

[Randle McMurphy]

I can see some of the reasoning behind it. AA is all about getting impact talent, and with Bautista already on the team (i.e. all it costs to lock him up is money), I can see the logic in signing him and not risking losing a signable impact bat when he is sitting on your lap. The problem, again, is the years. Bautista's age and previous history really do not translate to a five year deal. Three years would have been ideal, even if it meant paying more annually as others have mentioned. Looks like Bautista played hardball and the Jays caved.

Ideal, but not realistic. Really, this is probably a below market contract when you consider what's been given to OF/3B this offseason. If the Jays believe in him (and it appears that they do), then now was most certainly the time to sign him.

[Randle McMurphy]

http://www.fangraphs.com/blogs/index.ph ... cashes-in/

Pretty good analysis of the deal, goes into both sides of the argument.

[DonYon]

I thought he'd get more than 13m/y but I guess that 5th year was what was really important to him. I think this is a very very fair deal.

[guvernator]

This is a great move if Jays are willing to supplement this with a big free agent signing next off season. Internal Improvements and a Fielder signing makes this team a contender as early as next year.
Hopefully AA gets off this perpetual rebuild train ASAP.

New CBA will kick in next year but ,hopefully, new changes wont affect the 2012 draft because Jays could have 10+ picks in the first couple of rounds. So 2011 + 2012 drafts and continued International free agent signings could set this franchise up for the next decade. *fingers crossed*

[OldNo7]

Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much money after 1 year. I love the guy, and hope for the best. But this is a serious serious gamble.

[SharoneWright]

I'm a big believer that JBau's 2010 was no fluke --- but 50 over 4 plus an option would have been nicer. O well, I look forward to 44 homers next year.

[tecumseh18]

I said $13 mill for 4 years in the other thread, but this is OK. There's no way at his age and after hitting over 50 dingers that Jose would accept less than a 5 year deal. He didn't want to be looking for a new contract at age 33.

Conversely, the Jays needed to lock in their big drawing card this season. After the departures of Halladay and Bosh, Toronto fans weren't going to give their hearts to a guy who was going to split the first chance he got. And, there's a lot of evidence to suggest that Jose's not just a one-season wonder.

[Skin Blues]

Way less money per year, way less years than Wells, who never had a season nearly as good as Jose. I like this!! $13M/yr is not a big gamble. I don't understand the people complaining that he's not been good for long enough to deserve this and we should have waited. If we wait, and he is anywhere near last year, we're paying $20M+/yr. Just think of how much better he is than Jayson Werth, and how much Werth is getting paid. And it's not just the power... he takes a ton of walks.

Bautista + Fielder + one more year of maturation for the youngsters + extra wild card spot = playoffs in 2012. I can already see myself going to a lot more games in the next couple years than I have in a long time.

[Raptors Realtor]

I think 5 years at $50 million would have been fair for both sides because there's no guarantee that Bautista can continue to put up stats anywhere near the ones he put up last season.

[SharoneWright]

Lots of building under AA.
Lots of draft picks.
Lots of controllable assests.
Lots of young pitching.

Obviously, he wants a linchpin. A cornerstone. Figures the chance of JBau being legit is just too good to let go - not to mention impossible to unearth again -- so he grabs it.

Edit: Got to pick up Hill now for the duration, and craft a nice deal for Morrow too...

[OldNo7]

Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much money after 1 year. I love the guy, and hope for the best. But this is a serious serious gamble.

For the record, the problem I have is not the $$ as much as the years. I was hoping for something along the lines of 3/30 with some options on years 4/5, so 3/39 at this rate I would have lived with. I just think 5 years is a long time to have this hanging over the Jays' head if something goes wrong.

[SharoneWright]

Wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy too much money after 1 year. I love the guy, and hope for the best. But this is a serious serious gamble.

For the record, the problem I have is not the $$ as much as the years. I was hoping for something along the lines of 3/30 with some options on years 4/5, so 3/39 at this rate I would have lived with. I just think 5 years is a long time to have this hanging over the Jays' head if something goes wrong.

Not got done. He'd be gone. The 2012 target continues to drift into the future without JBau part of the group.

[The_Hater]

This is awful. The only reason to sign Bautista now instead of waiting is for the hometown discount and this is clearly not a discount. In fact, it looks like pretty bad inflation for only 1 good season. This could work out but there's a far higher probability that it will end up looking very bad.

I was expecting something in the 3 year/$30 million range so how did this turn into $65 million all of a sudden? Give your head a shake and just send it to arbitration AA. You just got out from under Vernon's contract, the final nightmare of all the terrible contracts from the JP era so there's no need to start making your own headaches so soon.

[The_Hater]

5 years is far too many. Hopefully a couple of those years are team options (for our payroll sake)I don't see this guy hitting 30Hrs in a season with us.

I feel like 30hrs a season is possible from him. Why wouldn't it be? His swing generates a lot of power and he's got pretty good plate discipline. Even if pitchers start pitching around him more, I think 30 hrs is still achievable for him.

Easily achievable. Even the old, mediocre version of Bautista with full-time ABs would have hit 25 HR a season.

Let's not embellish the past. Jose hasn't had as much as a single season that projects to 25 HR's over 550 AB's prior to 2010. Every single season would have ended in the 15-22 range.