What? Bautista asked for more than $150M?

The asking price was reportedly at least $150 million over five years. Where does it go from here?

That said, Bautista holds the leverage in these negotiations.

“The natural emotions of me coming here a year ago, going through what I went through, really wanting to be a Blue Jay and then hearing my name come up in rumours last night, I want to be here”, Saunders said Tuesday after working out at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.

The Jays are also weighing the contract of fellow Dominican slugger Edwin Encarnacion, who has given the club until Opening Day to offer a multi-year extension. Players in the clubhouse understand Bautista’s importance is more than just when he steps into the batter’s box.

The way Bautista sees it, he has already given the Blue Jays a hometown discount with the current deal he’s about to finish.

Outfielder Michael Saunders said he met with Atkins and manager John Gibbons to discuss reports a three-team trade fell through that would have sent Saunders to the Los Angeles Angels and All-Star right fielder Jay Bruce from Cincinnati to the Blue Jays, a deal that would have sent prospects to the Reds.

So even when you look at the guys who returned “home” – and again, that’s just three of the top 20 free agents – it wasn’t a matter of giving a discount. 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. So I immediately communicated with him and say ‘Hey, man, I’m here for you.

That structure he is referring to is a media conglomerate that uses cross-promotion and the selling of different wireless platforms to access games and game information via four hours of prime-time live sports. “But in relation to the negotiations, out of respect for him, out of respect for the Blue Jays organization, we just can’t get into the specifics of it”. The figures were released earlier this week.

Bautista was asked by reporters if he would agree to an extension if the Blue Jays waited until October 1 to meet his demands. As MLB Trade Rumors mentions, despite having played most of his game in the hitter-friendly Rogers Centre, Bautista has still been an elite hitter over the past six years. “I immediately communicated with him and said, ‘Hey, is everything OK?” But for me, it turned out to be a real blessing because I had to focus on getting my body right in a way that I really haven’t had to do in a long time because I’ve always been pretty healthy. Jose feels good about doing that. “Relative to a negotiation, to me it doesn’t need to be public, and it won’t be from our end”.