Jose Bautista Says That Hometown Discounts Don't Exist In His World
Honestly, good for friggin’ Jose Bautista. And as much as Blue Jays fans would hate to see Bautista leave Toronto, somewhere deep down they must feel the same way about him taking a stand. The Blue Jays’ owners are notorious for having boatloads of cash, but rarely breaking the bank…unless it’s for Vernon Wells. If you want the player, spend the money. Bautista knows what he’s worth, and although we don’t know what that figure is, I’m gonna go ahead and assume that it’s probably reasonable.
I also love his response on the hometown discount question, because he’s absolutely right. The Blue Jays struck gold with Bautista when they acquired him for a player to be named later from the Pittsburgh Pirates in 2008. A player to be named later! Toronto essentially got this guy for free. Bautista said he’s given the Blue Jays a hometown discount over the last five years, but it’s really been over the last six years. In his last six seasons, Bautista has batted .268 with a .945 OPS with 227 home runs and 582 RBIs. That’s an average of 38 homers and 97 RBIs over a 162-game season. The man has AVERAGED 38 home runs over the last six years.
In 2010, Bautista set the Blue Jays single-season home run record with 54 bombs. He made $2.4 million that year. Over the last six years, the Blue Jays have paid Bautista $69.4 million. According to FanGraphs, Bautista was worth $61.3 million in 2011 alone. From 2010 through 2015 with Toronto, Bautista has been worth $234.3 million. This means that the gap between what Bautista was worth and what he was actually paid is $164.9 million. So, yeah. I would laugh in the Blue Jays’ face too if they started talking to me about a hometown discount.