Jose Bautista a free agent after Blue Jays decline $17.5M US option
Three-time all-star hit only .203 with franchise record 170 strikeouts in 2017
Jose Bautista's $17.5 million US contract option has been declined by the Toronto Blue Jays, who will pay a $500,000 buyout.
Bautista became a free agent Sunday after the team turned down its half of the mutual option on the 36-year-old right-fielder.
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Last month, Atkins said he was moved by the outpouring of fan support on Bautista's final home game of the season and that moment will not be the last time Bautista is celebrated in Toronto.
"Jose's career, it's remarkable, and the last home game of the season speaks to what he's meant to this city and this organization," Atkins said.
"We wanted to make sure that when he comes back here he's going to be celebrated in a very strong way. That could be in the form of wearing a Toronto Blue Jays uniform again, it could be that he's traded for or signed in the future at some point, but there will be a day that we make sure we celebrate him in a significant way, knowing that he's going to be celebrated for years by the fans for his accomplishments."
With an aging roster — the Blue Jays had the American League's oldest starting lineup last season — Atkins said the plan now is to trend younger. Keeping Bautista would contradict that.
"We're not getting any younger if we add him to our fold and guarantee him our right-field spot," Atkins said.
The Blue Jays, who reached the ALCS in back-to-back years in 2015 and 2016, ended 2017 in fourth place in the American League East, 17 games back of first-place Boston.