The Toronto Blue Jays/MLB Thread.

[Bendit]

And I agree. But I don't think he's saying the contract wasn't fair, or even a gift, at the time of signing, but I think it is fair to say that he "outperformed the contract", as quoted above. Jose should be earning alot more than $14M this season, all things considered, and he hasn't said a single thing the entire way about money. Until now of course whe he's being asked about it.

Agree with both yours and Slaw's posts. This is going to be a dicey navigation. We are commenting somewhat blindly here since no one is saying (so far anyway) what JB's asking price and terms are. He has also astutely somewhat removed Shapiro/Atkins from their normal negotiating position by putting the bullseye on Rogers...lol. I believe he even made a connection between Rogers stock price and the wonderful run of the team during Aug-Oct. This is typically a Boras type m/o....wonder if JB has an agent?

[Joey]

I will say that I don't agree he gave the team a discount already. People forget but there were a lot of naysayers when AA signed Bautista to a long term deal and a lot more who thought JB was overpaid. The Jays gave him a good deal at the time given his history as a player. He can't blame the Jays for that - if he really thought he could have done better elsewhere he should have tried.

And I agree. But I don't think he's saying the contract wasn't fair, or even a gift, at the time of signing, but I think it is fair to say that he "outperformed the contract", as quoted above. Jose should be earning alot more than $14M this season, all things considered, and he hasn't said a single thing the entire way about money. Until now of course whe he's being asked about it.

[slaw]

This new management scares the shit out of me though ...

I will say that I don't agree he gave the team a discount already. People forget but there were a lot of naysayers when AA signed Bautista to a long term deal and a lot more who thought JB was overpaid. The Jays gave him a good deal at the time given his history as a player. He can't blame the Jays for that - if he really thought he could have done better elsewhere he should have tried.

[Joey]

Ya, I don't think Jose will get any push back from the Fans on this. He's earned the right.
Love what he had to say as well:

"In a publicly traded company, everybody can track their performance fairly easy. It's not a secret. It's out in the public," Bautista said. "Stock prices are monitored very closely by the whole financial world, and I think there is a direct correlation with the success of their earnings-per-share after we start experiencing success.

"Are they going to put it out in the media and say because of the Jays, we made all this money? No. But everybody can read between the lines."

Bautista made $64 million US over the past five years, and the Blue Jays exercised his $14 million option for 2016. He says he feels he's outperformed that contract, and he dismissed the idea of a so-called hometown discount.

"That doesn't exist. Not in my world," Bautista said. "In my eyes, I've given this organization a five-year hometown discount already." Source

Amen. Atkins and Shapiro have ZERO support from the fanbase right now.. they'd be wise to not nickle and dime this guy. I'm curious to know what it is he's asked though ...

"I didn't want to waste their time or their effort, so they can start planning ahead, and if it's not going to happen, they have plenty of time to do so," Bautista said. "They asked me about two weeks ago, and I told them, and that's it. There's no negotiation. I told them what I wanted. They either meet it, or it is what it is."

This new management scares the shit out of me though ...

[slaw]

What does everyone think about Bautista's mini presser yesterday re his contract? Was it good strategy on his part? Is he placing the Jays front office in an uncomfortable position?

What would you do? Pay him, Trade him, sign Encarnacion. Or let him (JB) play thru the season and become a f/a.

I would try and sign him to a 4 yr deal (he is 35 now).

I think the Jays will need to decide between Joey Bats and Edwin. Looking at the salary structure, you'd have Tulo, JB, EE, Martin and Donaldson making close to or well over $20 million next year. That leaves very little to do anything else on a $140 million payroll. Personally, I'd take Bautista over EE. As for when he'll sign, I suspect that won't be done until next offseason and I think a big part of it might be how this team performs this season and whether they win the division.

As for his presser, I have no problem with it. JB owes Toronto nothing. He's played his heart out there and done more for the organization than any Jay since Alomar. He deserves every cent he can get. Plus, baseball is different from other sports. Stars are under enormous pressure from the union not to take discounts even for $1.