Joey Bats Wants All the Money

It was always going to be challenging for the Blue Jays to bring Jose Bautista back to Toronto after this season. The superstar, on the last of what turned out to be a bargain five-year, $65 million deal, is an impending free agent, and despite hitting the market at 36, is primed for one last big payday as one of the most premier power hitters in the sport.

In order for Bautista to agree to bypass free agency and forego negotiations with other clubs, he would need incentive in the form of a massive contract from the Blue Jays. How massive? It appears we just found out.

After an initial TSN report said Bautista was seeking a five-year, $150 million deal, two more came out today that backed up what the slugger told the media Tuesday: The report was wrong. Unbelievably enough, Bautista is apparently after more.

Bautista reported ask of $150M, 5 yrs is indeed not exactly accurate, as Joey Bats said. At least years and total $ r MORE.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman)February 24, 2016

Hearing same as — Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal)February 24, 2016

Who knows what the actual number is, but that's three different reporters, plus the Toronto Star's Richard Griffin, who are all hearing Bautista's asking price is in the five-year, $150 million range. Where there's smoke, there's usually fire. Making matters worse, if you're the Blue Jays and have interest in extending him, Bautista has made it clear he's not willing to negotiate. He says the two sides haven't discussed an extension since he informed them of what it would take to sign him, and in his opinion, the onus is on the team to meet his asking price or else it will have to compete with 29 other clubs when the Game 5 hero hits the open market.

Paying Bautista into his 40s wouldn't have been so crazy if the deal was struck a few years ago when he was younger. Players like Miguel Cabrera, Alex Rodriguez, Joey Votto and Albert Pujols all signed mega-contracts that have or will pay them into their 40s, but they all did so at a considerably younger age. Bautista should have little trouble doing better than the four years and $68 million Victor Martinez got from the Tigers as a designated hitter (where Bautista will likely end up in a couple seasons) ahead of his age-36 season, but it's difficult to see any team going near his reported asking price. Could he net a contract with an average annual value in the $25-30 million range? Probably, but the years will likely be the biggest hold up in any negotiation.

Bautista has been an All-Star in six consecutive seasons, and is coming off a 40-homer, 114 RBI campaign in which he led the American League in walks (110), slashed .250/.377/.536 and was 4.5 WAR. He still has plenty to offer—he ranked fifth in the AL in homers and eighth in OPS—and should be able to secure something big. Just not five-years-150-plus-million big for someone whose value won't be at 2015 levels for the duration of the contract.

Though Bautista said he's done negotiating it doesn't mean something can't get done. And maybe the Jays can swing a deal that's not so outrageously player-friendly and paying Bautista for past performance. Maybe a three- or four-year deal with an option at a high AAV would satisfy both parties. Maybe it won't.

The good news for the Blue Jays, though, is that they still have Bautista for at least another season and should be a very competitive team again. With Bautista, fellow impending free agent Edwin Encarnacion, MVP Josh Donaldson, All-Stars Troy Tulowitzki and Russell Martin, the Blue Jays—who deployed the best offence in baseball a season ago—are not short on talent. If healthy, they should mash and could very well hit their way to another AL East title. The window to win is wide open in a division that appears to once again be up for grabs. The Joey Bats situation might be a distraction and worry a fan base that finally experienced good things last season, but the 2016 Blue Jays featuring Bautista are in a pretty good spot.