DUNEDIN, Fla. — The Toronto Blue Jays and Jose Bautista appear to have found common ground in determining a fair-market value for the 2010 home-run king.
ESPNdesportes.com and Foxsports.com reported Wednesday night the sides were nearing a US$65-million, five-year contract. A source requesting anonymity indicated to The Canadian Press that things were getting close and the numbers sounded right.
The ESPNdesportes.com report said the contract would include financial support for Bautista’s charity work and that some details still needed to be ironed out, including a physical for the 30-year-old.
If completed, the Blue Jays would lock up a player who went from underachieving journeyman to all-star during a remarkable 2010 season, during which he slugged a club-record 54 home runs, picked up 124 RBIs, scored 109 runs and walked 100 times.
The challenge in completing a long-term arrangement had been in accurately gauging a fair value on the production that can be expected in coming seasons from Bautista.
His 54 homers more than tripled his previous career-high of 16, and any agreement would need to protect the Blue Jays from a dramatic dip in production while at the same time offering enough incentive for Bautista to pass on free agency.
Bautista is entering his walk year and his 2011 salary will be decided in arbitration Friday if a multi-year agreement is not reached.
Speaking with reporters Wednesday morning, general manager Alex Anthopoulos said judging character, work ethic and approach to the game offered a way to create a comfort level in cases where a player’s track record was insufficient for a proper judgment.
“The person will lead you in the right direction,” Anthopoulos said.
“If you make the right bet that way, you end up being right more often than not.”
The sides were due to have an arbitration hearing Monday but it was postponed because Anthopoulos, speaking publicly Wednesday for the first time since the delay, wanted “to continue to have dialogue with him and his representatives.”
The new hearing was reportedly set for Friday, with Bautista seeking $10.5 million and the club countering at $7.6 million. The arbitrator would have to choose one or the other.
Like always, Anthopoulos refused to offer any updates beyond that, but he did repeat that he will not negotiate a one-year deal with Bautista, as per team policy once salary arbitration figures are exchanged.
In 2008, the Blue Jays and Alex Rios agreed to a $4.8-million, one-year deal to avoid arbitration and buy time for them to wrap up a $69.8-million, seven-year extension.
There will be no repeat of that, as Bautista will either sign a multi-year deal or get a one-year contract through a hearing reportedly scheduled for Friday, the final day of arbitration.
“Once the exchange date is in place we would not do a straight one-year deal, irrespective of what the dollar amount would be,” said Anthopoulos. “When you have policies, you better stick to them.”
Bautista had been in camp with the club before heading to Arizona for the hearing. He was believed to still be there, awaiting a resolution to the matter.
“I’m sure he’s finding his way into the gym to keep his lifts going, but as far as baseball activity, I’m sure that’s been put on the back-burner for the short-time being,” said manager John Farrell. “You’re talking about somebody who was in great shape during the early workouts here and I don’t anticipate too much time needed to get back up to speed.”
Assistant GM Jay Sartori was in Arizona to represent the club, while Anthopoulos has been handling negotiations with Bautista’s agent, Bean Stringfellow.
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RAUCH ON HOLD: Reliever John Rauch is being held from his bullpen sessions after turning his right ankle while walking down a flight of stairs.
He threw long toss from 170 feet Wednesday, and wants to get on a mound, but manager John Farrell said there was no need to rush him.
“We’re able to keep his arm moving, it’s not going to decondition itself,” said Farrell. “If it were a starting pitching, it’d be a little bit different, but the fact that he’s a reliever, we’ve got time on our side. We just want to be precautionary.”
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TEN TO START: The Blue Jays will audition seven starters behind the starting rotation’s front threesome of Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, and Brett Cecil.
Kyle Drabek, Jesse Litsch, Marc Rzepczynski, Brad Mills, Zack Stewart, Scott Richmond and Jo-Jo Reyes will also be stretched out during Grapefruit League games to compete for jobs.
They’ll need to make an impression quickly.
“Obviously there are only so many games that we can play in that 30-day stretch,” said manager John Farrell. “The second time through the rotation, where you can begin to piggyback and split some guys up, we’ve got a couple of B games scheduled, innings will start to become scarce. That’s when our decisions have to start to take over.”
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TWO MORE IN THE COUP: Centre-fielder Rajai Davis and Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria were the latest position players to arrive in Blue Jays camp Wednesday.
Positions players don’t have to report until Friday, with the first full squad workout set for Saturday.