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Updates on Jose Bautista

The Rays and Braves have had interest in the outfielder.

By Mark Colley
Boston Red Sox v Toronto Blue Jays
Jose Bautista of the Toronto Blue Jays leaps but cannot get to a ball off the bat of Eduardo Nunez of the Boston Red Sox that went for a double in the first inning during MLB game action at Rogers Centre on August 30, 2017 in Toronto, Canada.
Photo by Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

There’s been a lot of rumours about Jose Bautista lately. Some stray tweets on Twitter indicated last week that Bautista had signed with the Houston Astros, although that obviously didn’t come to fruition. On Sunday, Marly Rivera of ESPN reported that Bautista was negotiating one-year deals with multiple teams, including the Tampa Bay Rays and Atlanta Braves.

Monday, Jon Heyman indicated that the Braves were no longer involved in talks with Bautista and Mark Feinsand reported similar news for the Rays. (To be exact, Feinsand reported that the Rays were “unlikely” to sign Bautista.)

Bautista’s market remains a question, even after the latest peaked interest in him. He was said to be considering retirement at the start of spring training, but him and his agent refuted that report.

The Toronto Blue Jays didn’t win yesterday, but the game, in Montreal, was just as enjoyable. Toronto lost 5-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals, with Marcus Stroman pitching 4.2 innings and striking out six while not walking a batter. (The Cardinals looked bad against him.)

The Blue Jays play again today in Montreal, then head to Toronto for Opening Day against the New York Yankees on Thursday.

Some other news and links:

  • Josh Donaldson spoke to Shi Davidi of Sportsnet about his health and how he won’t be 100 percent by Opening Day. It isn’t really news, but Donaldson’s comments are at least slightly interesting.
  • Sportsnet put out another Big Read, this time written by Stephen Brunt and about John Gibbons. I haven’t got the chance to read it yet, but it looks like an enjoyable and informative read.
  • The Blue Jays reassigned Al Alberquerque, Rhiner Cruz, Chad Girodo, Deck McGuire and Luis Santos to minor league camp on Monday morning.
  • The Boston Red Sox optioned Sam Travis, a first baseman, to triple-A.
  • Boston also announced their rotation to start the season: Chris Sale, David Price, Rick Porcello, Hector Velazquez and Brian Johnson.
  • JP Arencibia looks like he might be joining the Blue Jays in some media capacity.

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