Editorials

Dodgers Rumors: Los Angeles May Have Interest in José Bautista

A report coming from thestar.com says that the Dodgers may have interest in José Bautista. Bautista has spent the last 8 seasons with the Blue Jays, where he truly blossomed into one of the game’s premier power hitters. However, his performed stumbled in 2016 as he battled injuries and inconsistent performance.

Bautista would help the Dodgers generate some much needed power from the right side of the plate. He’s primarily an outfielder, as he’s played mostly RF for the Blue Jays.



He’s not a particular good defender in right, as advanced defensive metrics grade him out as below average. Bautista hits for massive power and he strikes out nearly as much as he walks but he’s also no spring chicken, as he’ll be playing 2017 in his age-37 season. He does, however, have one of the single most epic batflips of all time.

The Dodgers would forfeit their first round pick for signing Bautista, as he was tendered a qualifying offer by the Blue Jays. At this point in his career, he may be better suited to a DH role, which puts his position on the Dodgers in question. For a team that is trying to get under the luxury tax and strongly values defense in right, this interest seems more like “kicking the tires” than legitimate interest, as Bautista has openly stated that he is trying to get paid this offseason.

The market for Bautista has been a little slow to develop this offseason, so this could be a situation where his agent leaked that a large revenue team had interest in his client to attempt to jump start the market.

The Dodgers currently have a plethora of outfielders, so an acquisition like this would have to be a precursor to a trade of another outfielder, like Andre Ethier, Trayce Thompson or Yasiel Puig.

It’s Time for L.A. to Catch the Elusive Championship

7 Comments

  1. I wish the Dodgers’ front office would put an end to all the offseason free agent or trade rumors.  As in other offseasons, and you can throw in midseason trade deadlines, all the rumors are just fodder for Dodgers’ fans; where in truth, this front office has nothing big in mind.

  2. GeorgeInnes
    Hello there, during these Winter Meetings rumors and trade talk are fodder for many many fans.  But it remains to be seen how committed this FO will be to winning in the near future.  Lots of work to be done if Dodgers are to be even considered for a chance at a PS visit in 2017.

  3. Friedman and Zaidi are a couple of clowns. Does anyone really believe that any free agents or other baseball teams’ executives even take these jokers seriously? Just look at the rumors they have floated so far in this offseason. For second base, they give us Kinsler, then Dozier, then Forsythe. For third base, it’s Longoria, then Frazier, then Solarte, while Turner waits on the sideline wondering if these clowns are even serious about re-signing him. For closer, they begin with Melancon, then maybe Chapman, or maybe they can get Holland or Davis. In the meantime, does anyone think that Jansen even thinks these jokers are serious? Now they begin to throw out names for outfielders such a McCutchhen, or maybe Bautista. This is after floating names like Verlander, Sale, Archer, Greinke, etc. as starters they are interested in. I doubt if Friedman or Zaidi know exactly what they are interested in, or if they’re just like kids in a toy store, asking their mommy for every toy they see on the shelf that captures their attention. It’s more likely that we will see more of the likes of Kazmir, McCarthy and Anderson, when the dust finally settles.

  4. I am very excited to see what are Dodgers general managers are going to put together we have the backing of the best owners in baseball even with the tax hike they want to win bad and we are going to win it all respectfully said

  5. Same Thing last year. Get everyone excited as if they have any interest in trading or signing any big name players. I believe its all hype from the agents to increase interest in their Clients best interest. Dodgers front office uses the publicity to try and fool us into believing they are not cutting payroll when its clearly going on the last two seasons. We will not sign A big bat right handed hitter. We will not sign Kenly nor a second baseman.

  6. Hallguy
    Hello it’s Paul and so far FO is not interested in ‘winning’ the Winter meetings and that’s fine.  But we are in day # 3 and have only Hill’s re-signing having been done.  If they do not take care of 2B, 3B or back end of BP (closer) Dodgers will be far removed from ANY PS contention in 2017, it’s as simple as that.

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