Blue Jays, Jose Bautista Closing in on Fair Agreement

Jose Bautista and the Blue Jays are on the verge of agreeing a two-year deal, which actually works out fairly well for both sides.

While it took a long time to come to fruition, it appears the Blue Jays and Jose Bautista are on the verge of finally coming to an agreement to keep the slugger in Toronto.

This was a deal that always made sense for both sides, especially after Bautista’s free agent value plummeted. The Blue Jays want to minimize long-term commitments to older players in their quest to become a younger, more sustainable winner.

Bautista meanwhile, was seeing his free agent market decline due to many factors, including being attached to the qualifying offer, coming off a down season, and being 36-years old.

Getting the slugger to agree to a short-term deal to stay in Toronto clearly benefited the Jays, who want to maintain competitiveness while Josh Donaldson is under team control, but also keeps Bautista in the city he has called home for the last eight and a half seasons.

A two-year deal would be an ideal situation for the Blue Jays. Losing a compensation pick, which they will not, now that he is presumably re-signing with the Jays, would have been less desirable for a one-year commitment.

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On the other hand, giving Bautista a deal of three years or more would have been a huge risk based on his age. Two years appears to be a safe compromise.

There are downsides to Bautista, which we outlined in a previous article. To summarize, his defense and base-running value sharply declined in 2016, and he is at an age where offensive decline is also not abnormal. There are definitely risks.

However, a healthy and motivated Bautista helps the team in 2017, and possibly 2018 if his decline is not too drastic. In addition, the team could minimize his defensive shortcomings by using him at DH and first base when the situation calls for it.

At the end of the day, Bautista was the best free agent left on the market, and it looks like the Jays got him for a reasonable term and price. On top of that, they will still have two first round picks in 2017, their own, plus the compensation pick they will get for Edwin Encarnacion.

Next: Does Luis Valbuena Make Sense for the Jays?

Bautista now rejoins Donaldson in the middle of the Jays lineup, along with new DH Kendrys Morales, whose batted ball profile might make him a lot better than some give him credit for. The goal of trying to win and building the farm system at the same time certainly got more realistic with this signing.