The Orioles are Avoiding Jose Bautista Because 'Fans Don't Like Him'

Here's a way to run a baseball team that's absolutely bats.

Joey Bats, that is.

Two months ago, Jose Bautista opened the scoring in the American League Wild Card game with a deep mashed tater to left in the second inning. It was overlooked in the 11-inning 5-2 Blue Jays walkoff win over the Orioles, but Baltimore fans remember. Joey Bats is a dude fans love to hate, baseball's current reigning king of "guys you can't stomach unless they are wearing your jersey."

Except, apparently in Charm City, where Baltimore Orioles general manager Dan Duquette is crowdsourcing free agency. And doing a super-shitty job at it.

Duquette: "We told (Bautista's) agent that we are not interested because our fans don't like him." #Bluejays #Jays #Orioles
— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) December 7, 2016

Yes, Duquette—a man specifically hired to build a championship team—says a man who has averaged 36 homers (and finished in the top ten MVP voting four times) since 2010 isn't fit for a cartoon bird hat because the "fans don't like him."

Of course they don't like him, he owns your asses. Watch Bats peacock the Orioles after they failed to drill him properly. Revenge is dish best served with a side of Boog's BBQ sauce.

Maybe Duquette's tongue was firmly in his cheek, but it sounds more like he's riling up the play-the-game-the-right-way wing of the fan base. The kind of Dockers Dad who posts stuff like, "Bautista being a dick is finally catching up to him."

Catch up to this.

Let's see, guys opposing fans hate of the top-of-the-head: Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, Barry Bonds… Jose Bautista will be fine.

Never forget, he hit one of the most remarkable home runs in recent memory, followed it up with the greatest bat chuck in baseball history, and then wrote a rock solid defense of it.

The general manager is so positive all Oriole fans hate Jose Bautista to the point of never wanting to see him in a Baltimore uniform, he's planting the anti-Bats flag. No doubt, Duquette. Bet the fans can't even imagine such thing. It's unthinkable.