Joey Bats and The Possible One-Year Deal
Late last night, it was rumored by Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports that Jose Bautista aka Joey Bats, former Blue Jays outfielder and current free agent, would be willing to sign a one-year deal.
The news about this broke and immediately made sense given Bautista's current age, the injuries he sustained last season, and because his value isn't viewed as high as it used to be right now. Granted Bautista is a fantastic player full of energy and brings a big bat, but the truth is that he just turned 36 in October and will be 37 at the conclusion of next season. That means that some teams might view his age as a hindrance and could consider him a liability preventing them from offering Bautista and his camp a deal worth a lot of money over the span of a couple of years.
Earlier this winter, it was rumored that Jose Bautista gave Toronto's front office stipulations regarding how many years he expects to sign for as well as the dollar amount for any potential contract. If that rumor was true, has yet to be seen, but it now appears that the Blue Jays are not willing to sign Bautista for any more than this winter's qualifying offer amount of $17.2 million dollars.
As a way of trying to regain value and still have a shot at landing on a team destined for the postseason, Bautista and his camp have realized that their best option might be to accept a one-year deal with a club. That club could be the Toronto Blue Jays or it could be the Texas Rangers, but regardless, Bautista needs something like that to get back to the level of player he once was and in an attempt to cash in come next winter.
While Bautista will be 37 years old next winter and might not be able to fully cash in, a one-year deal is by no means a bad thing. Just look at Ian Desmond and what he had to do last winter after rejecting an extension with the Washington Nationals for seven years and $107 million dollars. Desmond turned down the extension, became a free agent and had to wait a while, but eventually it paid off when the Texas Rangers signed him to a one year deal worth $8 million dollars.
The same exact type of thing could happen for Bautista otherwise known as Joey Bats albeit Desmond is 5 years younger and could still enter another peak before his career winds down. Either way, the move worked for Desmond and it could certainly work for Bautista.
Either way, the team that signs Jose Bautista aka Joey Bats will not only benefit from having a big bat in the middle of their lineup, but will also take on a player who has a heart for the game, an unmatched energy level, and a passion to win now.
