Just a few days after opening their Spring Training camp in Dunedin, Florida, the Toronto Blue Jays have reached an agreement with Jose Bautista worth $65 million over five years.
The 30-year-old slugger, who was eligible for arbitration, led the majors with 54 home runs last season while batting .260 with 124 RBI.
Bautista's hearing was postponed Monday at the request of both parties with a Friday deadline to reach an agreement. While the hard-hitting outfielder/third baseman had asked for $10.5 million in arbitration, the Blue Jays were only willing to offer $7.6 million. Clearly, negotiations were in order.
Bautista started most of last season in right field, but played 45 games at third base, where is expected to play during the 2011 season... WHICH IS JUST AROUND THE CORNER! YAY!
[Ottawa Citizen]
4 comments:
I love how everyone is saying the Blue says "took a risk." How? The guy is going to be one of the hardest-hitting third baseman in the AL.
He played 45 games at 3B last year. He is 30 years old. He has had one season where he hit more than 15 HR's or had an OPS+ over 100. Giving him 5 years and $65 million is a huge risk IMO.
Excellent point Josh. No way is he going to have a repeat of last season! But I guess if he does, it'll be worth the average $13 million they'd be spending.
It'd be nice if his average was above .260 too. He's like Nick Punto with home run power. :)
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