Blue Jays Sign Jose Bautista

[Jonn]

Should sign a one year deal with Cleveland and get himself a ring.

[L54]

Jonn needs a timeout, Moderators.

[intentional wok]

True but I'll say 2018 is still going to be tough to have a playoff team. Yankees and Red Sox will be ahead of them by a good margin. Tulo, Martin, Donaldson all a year older with 2 holes in the rotation.

 

Stroman, Sanchez, Osuna, Donaldson all will have large raises in arb. Maybe Rogers will give them $200 Million, who knows.

 

Well there's really nothing that can be done about what the other teams do next year. The Yanks and Sox will be what they will be regardless of what the Jays do. Might as well sensibly beef up the 2017 squad without selling out and make another kick at the playoff can before things get really tough. Bautista makes this a good team, and another sensible addition could make it an on-paper Wild Card favourite.

[intrigid]

That's the thing. If we're giving up a 1st round pick, I'd rather get more than just 1 year of Jose.

 

And before anyone says, I don't think there was a chance in hell that Jose was gonna wait out till June. Some team with a protected pick like the Phillies, or one that already gave up their pick like the Rockies would've gotten him on a cheap deal.

 

I disagree that a bottom 10 team would have picked him up. They would have to give up a high 2nd round pick.

[Jonn]

Jonn needs a timeout, Moderators.

 

Is a snack included. I would be ok with this timeout.

[King]

Heard Shartkins started the Bautista rumours to look like they were competitive to the fans when he signs a 1 year deal with Cleveland next week. Stromans tweet was pre-planned.

[TwistedLogic]

It's exactly the same thing if you read his second sentence.

I don't understand how an example in which a mutual option is picked up (Aramis Ramirez) would be "exactly the same thing" to a deal that is designed with rejecting the mutual option in mind. Yes, you're putting off salary to the following year in both examples, but the first scenario results in what is essentially a back-loaded 2 year deal, while the second results in a 1 year deal with a deferral. Again, I'm having a hard time seeing how it's "exactly the same thing".

 

It's looking like you might have to go beyond one sentence to explain it to me.

 

Anyways... no need to get testy. It ultimately just gives more credence to what you're saying.

 

Thanks for adding to my credibility by telling me that somebody else did something more efficiently than I did.

[Gary]

Heard Shartkins started the Bautista rumours to look like they were competitive to the fans when he signs a 1 year deal with Cleveland next week. Stromans tweet was pre-planned.

 

Source?

[intentional wok]

Is a snack included. I would be ok with this timeout.

 

 

We're saving the Dunkaroos for someone we really want to go away for a while, sorry.

[Bojangles]

heard shartkins started the bautista rumours to look like they were competitive to the fans when he signs a 1 year deal with cleveland next week. Stromans tweet was pre-planned.

 

mods!!!!!!!!!!

[Ray]

I disagree that a bottom 10 team would have picked him up. They would have to give up a high 2nd round pick.

 

If Bautista rebounds, you can flip him to a contender during the deadline and get something better than a high second round pick.

 

Agree to disagree I guess.

[Stangstag]

Heard Shartkins started the Bautista rumours to look like they were competitive to the fans when he signs a 1 year deal with Cleveland next week. Stromans tweet was pre-planned.

 

Ban

[TwistedLogic]

Source?

 

Shatkins themselves.

[Bojangles]

If Bautista rebounds, you can flip him to a contender during the deadline and get something better than a high second round pick.

 

Agree to disagree I guess.

 

10-5 rights bruhh

[Ray]

10-5 rights bruhh

 

I was saying if he didn't sign with us and signed with a bottom 10 team like the Phillies.

[Bojangles]

I was saying if he didn't sign with us and signed with a bottom 10 team like the Phillies.

 

Ah I see. My fault. So you think a s*** team will gamble that Bautista has a bounce back year and they'd get something better than the draft pick they'd forfeit?

[canadiansportsjunkie]

I like the sound so far!

 

I am not ready to give up going for the championship this year!

[wk680]

There's actually the possibility of an (unlikely) scenario in play here, where a "mutual option" could be used creatively to assist with the 2017 payroll and enable the Jays to make a few more moves.

 

The Jays payroll is currently sitting at 132.7M. Setting aside maybe 5M for league min guys and 3.3M for Stroman, it puts them at 141M. If they only plan on hovering near the 2015 payroll of 160M, a Bautista signing in the 1/18M range would likely eat up their entire budget without allowing any subsequent moves.

 

However, if they were to sign Bautista to a 1 year, say, 10M deal, with a mutual option in 2018 that carries something like a 10M buyout, they'll essentially have signed him to a 1/20M deal with half of the salary deferred to 2018. That could open up the possibility for deals with Valbuena, Moss, Holland, Logan, etc.

 

A club option or a team option would have both technically made this a two year deal, and with the changes to the qualifying offer, I don't think that's what Bautista is looking for. A mutual option with a buyout attached would give him the 1 year deal he wants, ensure that he gets his money, and help the team with a (necessary?) deferral.

 

Probably not what's in play here, but a potentially brilliant move if it is.

 

The MLB.com article on Bautista states:

"The Blue Jays also have plenty of money to spend with current projected salaries of $135 million, not including Bautista, and a 2017 payroll that is expected to be in the range of $160 million to $165 million."

 

That number of $135M matches the updated total on the first post of the offseason thread, in which Upton accounts for only $1M (the remainder of his salary being covered with the money they obtained from SD). And the $165M total is what I recall being floated as the rumored target some weeks back. BUT if there are a lot of short term commitments on the 2017 payroll, I don't see that $165M being a hard limit. It may just be a matter of how much flexibility they want to have for in-season acquisitions and also avoiding the luxury tax threshold which will includes Upton's AAV of ~ $15M.

 

So say the JB contract comes in at 1 yr $17M with a 2nd year mutual option of $19M or a $3M buyout. Jays are somewhat happy because they are committing maximum $36M. JB is somewhat placated because he gets at least $20M. But if he has a good season and both sides agree he could return for that $19M option. It's not like he is likely to get more for a 1 yr deal elsewhere, just a matter of whether he thinks he can get more than a 1 year deal, which at his age will be questionable.

 

With $17M on JB, the Jays are now up to about $152 M, and $13M left in the $165M budget. They could get a reliever for $5M and an outfielder like Moss for $8M, while rolling with league minimum Jimenez at backup catcher.

[Ray]

Ah I see. My fault. So you think a s*** team will gamble that Bautista has a bounce back year and they'd get something better than the draft pick they'd forfeit?

 

I never thought there was a chance in hell that Bautista would've sat out till June. He would've taken something if not from us, and that would've netted us a 1st rounder.

 

Now we're getting him back at the cost of a 1st round draft pick. I want Jose over that draft pick, but I'd like it to be longer term deal than just 1 year because of it.

[TwistedLogic]

So say the JB contract comes in at 1 yr $17M with a 2nd year mutual option of $19M or a $3M buyout. Jays are somewhat happy because they are committing maximum $36M. JB is somewhat placated because he gets at least $20M. But if he has a good season and both sides agree he could return for that $19M option.

 

This is probably the likeliest scenario. I will point out though that you said Upton is slated for a 1M salary in 2017. Is there a source for this? I've been using Spotrac lately, and they've got Upton adjusted for 5M in 2017.

 

Edit: Just checked Cot's, and they've got Upton making $17,050,000 with $16,050,000 paid by the Padres. I think that 16M figure originally included the money Upton was still making in 2016, which is probably why Spotrac has him for 5M in 2017. I don't think the Jays had to pay Upton anything in 2016.

[wk680]

This is probably the likeliest scenario. I will point out though that you said Upton is slated for a 1M salary in 2017. Is there a source for this? I've been using Spotrac lately, and they've got Upton adjusted for 5M in 2017.

 

So the Jays traded for Upton at the end of July 2016, meaning they were responsible for about 1/3 of his 2016 salary of $15.4M plus his entire 2017 salary of $16.4M, which means Jays are paying him about $22M total but received $17M from SD to put toward that. The rumors were that the Jays held all but $1M of that $17M to put towards his 2017 salary commitment, but we have no actual confirmation. If they were just spreading the $17M evenly over the combined 2016-17 seasons, they would be paying him around $3.5-4 M of their 'own' money in 2017.

[justafan]

Navarro has a terrible stretch.

 

That $165M Number is not bad, especially considering how low the long term commitment is. Most of the contracts expire in 2 or less years, with only Tulo and Martin extending beyond.

 

If this team isn't successful, it would be easy to shed at the deadline.

 

We really need to go for it. I think Navarro is the right backup catcher for this team, though I think you can roll with Pompey or Upton in LF, and allocate remainder to relief pitching.

[BTS]

This is probably the likeliest scenario. I will point out though that you said Upton is slated for a 1M salary in 2017. Is there a source for this? I've been using Spotrac lately, and they've got Upton adjusted for 5M in 2017.

 

Edit: Just checked Cot's, and they've got Upton making $17,050,000 with $16,050,000 paid by the Padres. I think that 16M figure originally included the money Upton was still making in 2016, which is probably why Spotrac has him for 5M in 2017. I don't think the Jays had to pay Upton anything in 2016.

 

This has been brought up many times, and a link always gets posted showing that about 1M of Upton's contract is on this year's books.

[Orgfiller]

Man can this deal just be made official already? The longer it goes without an announcement being made the more I fear that there was a hiccup along the way and the two sides could not come to an agreement, leaving us with a 20+ page case of blue balls.

[Ray]

Watch Jose show up to the Orioles Spring Training camp or something. Pulling a Fowler.

[TwistedLogic]

Man can this deal just be made official already? The longer it goes without an announcement being made the more I fear that there was a hiccup along the way and the two sides could not come to an agreement, leaving us with a 20+ page case of blue balls.

 

If a deal with Bautista falling apart could result in Valbuena + Moss/Pagan as a fallback, I'd take that as a win.

[fatcowxlive]

Man can this deal just be made official already? The longer it goes without an announcement being made the more I fear that there was a hiccup along the way and the two sides could not come to an agreement, leaving us with a 20+ page case of blue balls.

 

Apperently the hold up is because Jose is in the Dominican right now

[Orgfiller]

Apperently the hold up is because Jose is in the Dominican right now

 

I'm sure it's not too hard for billion dollar company Rogers to put Shapiro and/or Atkins on a plane to the DR where they could discuss this face to face, not delaying anything.

[saskjayfan]

Apperently the hold up is because Jose is in the Dominican right now

 

just fax the paperwork over to angrioter and have him go get Jose to sign it.

[burlingtonbandit]

Not Bautista related but Scott Boras in on Fan 590 right now.