Jose Bautista: On the Trade Block?

There are rumours surrounding Toronto Blue Jays slugger Jose Bautista that he's going to be traded. This isn't as ludicrous a statement as it sounds. There are multiple reasons to possibly trade Bautista, but there are also a lot of reasons to keep him. I'm going to try and make some sense of all this and see what the best thing to do would be.

First let's look at what Bautista means to this team. Since 2010 to this date Bautista has hit 177 homeruns for the Blue Jays (and depending on when you're reading this there's a chance that that number is even bigger). His batting average is .269, and his OPS is a really solid .938. He also has a total of 443 RBIs in the same span. This doesn't even include his solid play and cannon of an arm in right field. These numbers beg the question, why would the Blue Jays even consider trading him? Well there's a few reasons.

They aren't winning. The Blue Jays have had relatively the same core for a couple seasons now and both seasons we've seen a failure of a season in both. Don't give me the "there's still a chance this year" talk. Yes there is, about the same chance that the Montreal Expos have this year.  On trade deadline day they had a firm grasp on the wild card position and were just a few back from the division lead. I realize this collapse isn't totally Bautista's fault and I'm not blaming him. That is not why I'm saying he should be dealt. I'm saying that a trade would mean at least two if not three good players coming back and one of them likely being a top pitcher. The Jays could now have a new nucleus to build the rest of the team around. The trade for this nucleus should also include guys with playoff experience and preferably guys with a World Series ring coming back to Tornonto. The Blue Jays have one player with serious playoff experience and he likely isn't around much longer. Mark Buerhle won in Chicago and the Jays need more guys that have won. If you trade Bautista you could trade for these guys, guys who could eventually bring a team to the playoffs and not fold when all the expectations and eyes are on them. As it appears to be that's what this team currently is. The Jays have a lot of players who can put up the numbers and put together some wins, but not win when it counts. Because of this team folding like it has, there might be a chance that Bautista wants out.


In a way it's almost surprising Bautista has not asked for a trade yet. He has been in Toronto since 2010 and hasn't even come close to the playoffs. It would only make sense that he would want to go somewhere where he could be a playoff and potentially even a World Series contender, a team where a GM makes moves at the trade deadline to strengthen the team, and there are probably quite a few teams like this that would be happy to have him. Off the top of my head I can come up with a host of potential destinations. Oakland, either LA team, Detroit, and Kansas City among others would all be happy to have him. This also brings me back to what pieces the Jays would get. All of the listed teams have very good pieces that could help out the Jays a lot. You might be thinking those those pieces would never get traded. In that case I will direct you to start reading this article again and go through Bautista's numbers. If Bautista were to be traded at least one of the really big names off of those teams would have to be traded a long with some other legitimate talent. I don't know if Bautista wants out or not, but if he did maybe there would be a bit less talent coming back than I think because Anthopoulos would have to trade him and the other GM would know that and wouldn't give up as much. However, the pieces coming back would still be quality. However, if Bautista doesn't want out and doesn't ask for a trade, then it would definitely be a star quality player and more coming back, because Antopoulos won't have to get him out of Toronto and will be able to hold on to Bautista until he gets an offer he likes, or if he doesn't like the offers, no trade.

So to answer the question, is it worth it to trade Jose Bautista? I say yes but with an asterisk beside that yes. If Bautista wants out then he would almost for sure be getting traded, and even in that scenario it would be at least one really good piece coming back. However, if he doesn't want out Anthopoulos could ask for almost any star player on any good team, plus some other nice every day players, and get at least some variation of the deal he asked for. This deal would include at least three good to really good players. What might be even more important though is if the Blue Jays GM works with the right team he could get players with playoff experience and potentially even a World Series ring or two, which might be just as important as talent on an MLB team.


-Darren

What do you think about Bautista potentially being traded? Leave a comment below this post or you can find me on twitter @thewildman111

Photo taken from thestar.com