By: Greg Henrici and Jason Virasami

The MLB season has begun, and 20 days in there has been plenty of excitement. Shohei Ohtani’s 3 home runs, a Bartolo Colon near no-hitter, even hot starts by the Red Sox and Mets, and Bryce Harper looking ready for a potential MVP season, this year should be fun.  There is one thing that is missing: Jose Bautista and his infamous bat flip, as well as other free-agents like Matt Holliday who have yet to be signed on to a MLB roster in a historically slow offseason. After being one of the game’s most well known and powerful players, it is hard to understand why Bautista is not in a Major League jersey at the moment.

It was in 2010 when Jose Bautista broke out to become one of the league’s most intimidating superstars, as he hit a league leading 54 home runs and played in all but 1 game throughout the season.  In the past 7 years, Bautista has never had a sub-21 home run season, and in those 7 years he has been averaging 38.85 home runs per season. Regardless of what people will say about his up and down stats, he has always brought power to the table, and can potentially be a valuable pinch hitter, DH, or even a potential starter on some teams. The league has seen what this level of power can do for a team, as he and Josh Donaldson led the Toronto Blue Jays to the playoffs with 40 home runs each in 2015 to help end the team’s 22 year playoff drought.

Statistically, Bautista had one of the worst seasons of his career with the Blue Jays last year, where he hit for a dismal league 144th best .203 batting average, as well as a similarly terrible 136th best OPS of only .674.  Due to his age of 37, some analysts will call him a liability in the field, whether playing right-field, first or third base. However, his defensive statistics last year rank him the 12th best starting right-fielder (where he played 143/157 games) in terms of fielding percentage: .983, and the 6th best Range Factor (outs made and assists divided by number of games played in) of 1.99.  By averaging these defensive ranks, Bautista was the 9th best starting right fielder in 2017, better than the likes of Aaron Judge, Bryce Harper, and Yasiel Puig. In addition to this, Bautista also had an elite walk rate of 14.3% and walked a league 12th best 84 times.

Stats from Bautista’s 2017 campaign, such as batting average and OPS, might give him a bad reputation with teams around the league, but the advanced stats show that he is one of the best defensive right fielders in baseball. The only reason why Bautista isn’t on an MLB team is because of his personality, not because of his skill level. The bat flip from 2016 against the Atlanta Braves that made benches clear, as well as when he slid right into Rougned Odor, which led to him being on the losing of one of the greatest punches thrown on a baseball field. These are the things that make fans take out their cameras when he walks up to bat, the reason why he has over 795,000 followers on Instagram, and unfortunately the reason why he isn’t on an active MLB roster. While his antics may be amusing and attracting for fans, they are bothersome for managers and clubs that are trying to get by and win ball games, especially for an aging 37 year-old.  

If this is not the reason for Bautista’s free agency, it is a result of him asking for more money than teams think he deserves. In the off-season of 2016, there was controversy regarding Bautista requesting a 150 million dollar contract over 5 years. He was quoted saying “Doesn’t exist (hometown discount). Not in my world. In my eyes, I’ve given this organization a 5 year hometown discount already.”  He said this in response to a proposed pay cut to extend his contract with Toronto. Previously, Bautista had been playing on a 6 year 55 million dollar contract, and wanted more this offseason for his loyalty. His own ambition could be his worst enemy, as it may be the reason he is losing out on millions of dollars and continues to be unsigned by any MLB team.

Regardless of this, every team in the league would benefit from having Jose Bautista on their 40 man roster. It could be that teams are waiting until the postseason to sign a player like Bautista, when depth matters more.  If Bautista were to be on a rebuilding team, where his power wouldn’t necessarily have the biggest effect on winning games, signing him makes sense from an entertainment standpoint. On the other hand, teams like the Kansas City Royals and New York Mets have seen regular season success from veterans on minimum contracts like Lucas Duda and Adrian Gonzalez, and Bautista could be a part of this small group of players if a team is willing to take a chance on him.