Blue Jays GM Atkins remains tight-lipped on contract negotiations, trade rumours

Where does it go from here?

In reference to Bautista’s age, Atkins did say that the player is a rarity because of his superb physical conditioning.

“That’s the thing about trade rumours that are unfortunate – the first thing I think about is the players”, Atkins said. Unless he gets injured this season, he’s going to get a ton of money in the offseason from someone, whether it’s from the Blue Jays or not.

Bautista is an offensive-minded player with a career oWAR of 37.3.

It should have been obvious that the relationship between Bautista and the Jays was headed towards an impasse.

We may never know what that term and dollar amount is, but if you were thinking the Blue Jays might be able to get away with bringing Jose Bautista back on a modest three or four year deal, think again.

Now it sounds like the days of the Blue Jays receiving a discount for Bautista are over and it probably means the end of his time in Toronto is coming soon.

And you can bet the fans won’t be happy if Bautista is on another team in 2017, especially if the Jays are a 75-win team just because the front office wasn’t willing to make up for the bargain contract they enjoyed for so long. I understand the business. “Stock prices are monitored very closely by the whole financial world, and I think there is a direct correlation with the success of their earnings-per-share after we start experiencing success”. I don’t believe in any of that stuff. “I’m sure 29 other teams would love to have him as well”. It seems like peculiar timing for the Blue Jays to be involved in a rumor involving the acquisition of another right fielder. The figures were released earlier this week.

“I have a lot of faith in Russell”, said Stroman. Less than five hours later came the leaked details of Bautista’s request, presumably from Rogers. “I love being around the guy, I love to hear him talking about baseball, to hear him talking about his career”.

“We’ve had really clear, effective communication, and there’s no ambiguity”, he said.

As for Saunders, whose health apparently scotched a possible deal with the Reds that was making the rounds Monday night, Atkins said he’s “encouraged with everything we’ve seen” and “we feel good about having the ability to make our team better”.

Oops. It was. Not from Atkins office, but possibly from above. If the Bruce deal is finalized, the Jays will add another potent bat (and maybe some insurance should Bautista depart).

Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista has been one of the most productive hitters in baseball over the past six years. Reyes will receive the $22 million salary he earns during the season while on leave.

To contextualize, over the past five seasons, the Blue Jays have paid Bautista $64 million.