| From left to right: The Silent Assassin, Bautista, new manager John Farrell |
OK so if you live in a cave or don't like baseball (you might want to skip this entirely) then you may not be aware that the Jays just signed Jose Bautista to a 5 year 65 million deal plus a club option 6th year. First off I love the Bautista deal for a few reasons and I don't get the people whining about how it's a gamble and we're going to put ourselves in another Vernon like situation etc. Big difference between 65 million and 100+ million folks. BIG. Here's why I like it:
1. Bautista is awesome
People are saying it's a lot of money to shell out considering he's only had 1 good year. True. Except Bautista also tore the cover off the ball in August and September of 2009 so really he's been the best hitter in the AL for over a season. And big numbers command big money. Bottom line. If you don't think the Yankees would've paid him a lot more than we did you're dreaming.
2. It's not really all that much of a gamble.
Look folks, if the silent assassin (AA) can move Vernon's contract, he can move this one whenever he wants to. Even if Bautista has a terrible season, AA would still be able to get him off the books one way or another. Not as big a gamble as everyone is saying, so why not take a shot on a guy who has the upside to be a perennial MVP contender?
3. He did it last year with little protection and he can do it again.
Here's something I don't understand about some critics of this deal. They say now because Vernon is gone Bautista doesn't have the protetion in the middle of the lineup anymore and he'll see a lot more breaking balls than he did last year. This doesn't really make sense. First off, yeah Vernon had a rebound year last season but his 2nd half wasn't great. Right around the time pitchers were starting to realize Bautista was for real, Vernon decided to stop hitting. Which means last season Bautista was already in the same situation he is now (little protection) and he hit better in the second half than the first half. Plus I think Hill and Lind will bounce back this year and those guys both have better power than Wells so he could end up having better protection this year, not less.
The only thing that worries me about this deal is Bautista's average. He hit .260 last seaon which is respectable (but not great) for a power hitter. Obviously you can accept a lower average if he's going to hit 50 homeruns. But realistically, he's not going to hit 50 again. Probably won't hit 40. So if we can put him down for being good for 35-40 homeruns and 115 rbis then if his average dips below .250 he could start being a bit of a liability. But like I said, I'm not too worried. He's starting to draw a lot more walks which means his OBP should get a nice boost, and with the power in the middle and end of our lineup that will definitely add to some more production.
Overall I like the deal. Remember people, it's not your money, it's Rogers's. This move shows that the Jays are getting serious about winning.
Get pumped for the season, it's going to be awesome. See you on opening night.
