Jose Bautista won’t be back in Toronto next season after Blue Jays decline to pick up his option

In a move many people could see coming, the Toronto Blue Jays won’t be picking up Jose Bautista’s 2018 option. Bautista was set to make $17 million next season, so it’s no shock that the team wants to focus their resources elsewhere during their rebuild rather than cutting that check.

The team told Bautista before the season was over as a courtesy, instead of waiting the maximum amount of time they could have before deciding and telling him after the World Series was wrapped up.

Bautista has been with the Jays since 2008, when he was traded from the Pirates in August. From his first full season in 2009 through this year, Bautista hit 285 home runs and drove in 756 runs for the Jays. He batted .253 in those seasons, an average brought down by his abysmal .203 average this year.

He still plans to play next season, it just won’t be in Toronto. Although he says he’d still like to end his career there, according to MLB.com.

“I’ve said it all along, this is where I want to be and finish my career. We’ll see what happens in the future. It’s out of my control now.”

The team isn’t ruling that out either, promising that he’ll be honored (beyond just the standing ovation he got during the season’s final game) in the future.

“When he comes back here, he will 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. 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.”

However, the Blue Jays’ front office also didn’t mince words when it comes to the reasons he won’t be part of the team next season, citing his performance this year and their aims to get younger. General Manager Ross Atkins put it as straight as possibly, saying,

”We’re not getting any younger if we guarantee him our right-field spot.”

Bautista’s glory days in Toronto won’t be forgotten though, like his offensive efforts in 2010 and 2011 when he hit a combined 97 home runs. Plus, we’ll always have the bat flip to remember him by.