Return of the King: Bautista Back (Probably)
So rumours started trickling in that something is in the works:
And then later, Ken Rosenthal, who always knows these things (he has secrets in his bow tie), tweeted this:
And things felt correct.
This is a good deal for both sides:
For the Jays it’s a known offensive quantity that fits in with a team that is driven by the kind of offense José Bautista provides. If the details are accurate, it’s a palatable deal that fits in how the rest of the team currently set up.
For Bautista, it’s an opportunity to return to a place he clearly loves and is attached to. A place he blossomed as a baseball player:
(It's also a chance to rebuild some value to go at it again. But shhhhhh. We're not talking about that right now. Everyone is in love.)
There's a shared history.
(For the people worried about the defense in right field, here is my solution: Bautista should play first base. He should have the role EE had. It's the best thing.)
I also suspect that some of it is an opportunity for the Jays to assuage a nervous and impatient fanbase in the last month of a strange and slow moving offseason.
"We got you a saucy Dominican. Will you please shut up now?"
Nothing, of course, is official yet. But that didn’t stop Marcus Stroman from posting this:
I wonder if part of the "being real" was Stroman getting the "Never buy the Suit" talk.
Remember kids: Never buy the suit.
Anyway, nothing is confirmed except this:
Bautista is not dumb. He knows how social media works.
I’m considering this one on the books.
Let's also celebrate that it's January 16th, and this dude's year is ruined:
Brief reminder that Bautista lives with little girls and they go to the beach.
See this Instagram photo by @joeybats19 * 31.4k likes
Also, in other outfielder news,
Not this kind of escalator:
Here is my up to the minute Michael Saunders story:
So I was in the restaurant at the Skydome hotel on Saturday and a bunch of kids in Toronto Rock jerseys were eating. Saunders, clad in a buffalo print shirt, sauntered in and the kids all went "MICHAEL SAUNDERS!!!!" And he went around their table and fist bumped all six of them, who all looked under the age of 8. And then some wandered over got their Toronto Rock jerseys signed by him (he was at the bar, with Jason Bay and Justin Morneau). The idea that these kids have Saunders signed Toronto Rock jerseys amuses me.
Stay away from the sprinklers!!
