The Mets have signed Jose Bautista to a one-year, Major League contract, the team announced via Twitter. The veteran slugger has already been added to the Mets’ roster and is available for tonight’s game; Phillip Evans was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move. MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo reported earlier today that the two sides were progressing towards a contract, and FanRag Sports’ Jon Heyman reported that an agreement had been reached. The deal will pay Bautista a Major League minimum salary, Heyman tweets.
With Yoenis Cespedes and Todd Frazier both on the DL, Bautista provides a right-handed bat capable of playing both third base and in the corner outfield. Bautista could also spell Adrian Gonzalez and Jay Bruce (both lefty swingers) at first base, to boot. The Mets’ media release about the signing (as noted by The Athletic’s Tim Britton) made particular mention of Bautista’s .913 OPS against southpaw pitching during his recent stint with the Braves, so it could be that New York will specifically deploy Bautista as a lefty masher.
Bautista only hit .143/.250/.343 overall during his brief time with Atlanta, with his success in 20 PA against lefties counterbalanced by a measly .308 OPS against right-handed pitchers. It’s hard to draw too many conclusions from such a small sample size, of course, though given that Bautista didn’t get a proper Spring Training (he only signed with the Braves in mid-April) and he is coming off a sub-replacement year with the Blue Jays in 2017, it certainly seems like the 37-year-old might best be suited for part-time duty at this stage in his career.
This is technically Bautista’s second stint in the Mets organization, as he was initially acquired by the team back on July 30, 2004 in a trade with the Royals for righty Justin Huber. On that very same day, however, Bautista was dealt as part of a three-player package to the Pirates for Kris Benson and Jeff Keppinger. One can’t really fault for the Mets for not knowing what they had at the time, as it wasn’t until 2010 that Bautista broke out as one of the game’s premier sluggers with a 54-homer season for the Blue Jays.
That was the first of six superstar-level years for Bautista in Toronto, and he was still a solidly above-average bat as recently as 2016, though he was starting to show some of the signs of the decline that led to his ruinous 2017 campaign. Since the Mets needed some right-handed hitting, though, there isn’t much risk on the team’s end in signing Bautista to the low-cost deal to see if he can recapture any of his old form, particularly if Bautista’s exposure to right-handed pitching is limited.
lol
Atl trash is Met treasure. What a joke the Mets are.
You mean every team “trash” .. man this roster is starting to look like the 2009 MLB Allstar game
Between him and Andrain Gonzalez… I sense a pattern
Are they going to sign Rafael pomero next ?
I heard Dariq Barmtom is still kickin around the Mexican leagues
Barrey Bombs is out there.
You meant Daric Barton
It’s going to be bobby Bonilla he’s even still on the payroll
omg, lmao, good one!!
The closest the team can get to free. Typical Mets move.
Hey ARP…the pattern is more clear when you add Jose Reyes. There’s three has been a that we’re never was.
So if Bautista and Reyes hit back to back HRs is it Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose -Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose -Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose -Jose-Jose-Jose-Jose
Bautista should do well with the short right field porch in Citi Field
Or he’ll do poorly.
He probably needed a change of scenery.
Coop can fix him.
New scenery can’t fix aging. (Still rooting for Bautista though)
He needs a new sport
What short right field porch? It’s 335 feet out to right field.
The minimum distance is 325 feet…
Except it’s 330 feet.
What was Robin Ventura busy
rafeal palmerio next
High fives all the way around. Hip-hip!!! Hooooraaayyy!!!! (total sarcasm on my part). Bautista will wish he was in TOR or ATL because Met fans and the media will be relentless if his performance is anything short of stellar.
You would think Mets fans have more to worry about than the performance of a bench player. Just do not put him in the outfield. That ship has sailed.
Being proud of your fan base being a bunch of dicks….really? The Mets are lucky to have Bautista. Just wait until he’s done his “spring training” & warmed up. Mets can always take Morales & send Bautista back home.
If anything is short of stellar? Are you nuts Solaris?
It’s been five years and hundreds of strike outs since your boy was stellar.
He’s lost his ability to turn on a major league fastball.
He is a perfect fit for the Mets, as the team has lots of over the hill misfits. As a cancer he will grow and affect other players. Let’s go mets
lolMets lives
It’s better than Evans. It’s a no risk move. Just like gonzo. And that so far has been worth every penny. Can’t hurt to try it out and again, it’s better than any of their current backup utility options.
I disagree.
At 24-19, its absolutely a high risk move on a contender. You are 100 kinds of wrong.
you forgot to say mets are 4th in a 5 team division
They are 4th and NOT moving up. Good teams discard their waste. Bad teams collect it with open arms.
The clubhouse is about to stink.
In what universe is a minimum salary a high risk move? That’s literally as low risk as you can get… some people choose not to use their brains.
Why don’t you use it then?
I’m not talking about Bautista in particular(might as well be though) but there is a risk in putting anyone on the roster who can’t play. The risk is he doesn’t hit and plays subpar defense. You can’t just go signing a bunch of past their prime guys regardless of whether they make the minimum or not.
You really think this Mets team is a contender? Take a look at the rest of the staffs era after Syndergaard and Degrom it’s an absolute joke. I love my Mets but I knew they would fall and come back down to Earth. That’s like a Mets fan Thinking Cespedes was going to play 145 games on the year.
They don’t determine playoff participants based on ERA, so that point is irrelevant. Whether you win a game 14-12 or 1-0, it still counts exactly the same for playoff purposes…as 1 victory. Stats are wonderful diversions for us, but when it comes down to it, all statistics are nothing but white noise. All that matters when it comes to contending is wins and losses.
How do you think you get wins and losses? By adding players with good statistics who combine together in such a manner that they score more runs than they give up. ERA doesnt get you into the playoffs, no, but it’s not like the Mets can hit their way in. They won’t win a lot of those 14-12 games you mention with their 27th ranked offense.
Wtf are you delusional? Statistically, Adrian Gonzalez has been one of the worst 1B in MLB this year. Wow dude… Just wow…
that speaks volumes as to how bad Dom Smith has been
bklynny67 Gonzo is getting the league minimum, so his worth every penny comment might not be that much of a stretch
pretty funny, I needed that laugh today. at least the mets are consistent at that, making me laugh
I’ll say it again…Wilpons are big market team owners, with a small-market mindset…Good luck, Mets’ fans.
Nothing wrong with these move filling a void. Please stop with the small market nonsense.
I like the signing too. It fills a void plus that “aging” veteran brings some swag to a younger team. Once owners like the Wilpons and Peter Angelo get out of baseball, then maybe east coast MLB can go to next level.
the mets have had one notable rookie on the team this year, and that was dom smith. i dont think theyre very young
Well, Tebow is slashing 235/316/353 this past week in AA….time to call him up.
Mets will sooner Call Tebow up just for the name and hype to sell tickets then Giving Alonso a shot for a guy who is legit raking at double A and should easily have field day with his power playing in Vegas! But hey that’s what the Mets do. Amazes me how they still have not promoted Alonso to Triple A yet
He going to hit 20 hrs
MLB The Show is a fun game. I like it, too.
Not sure the trash talking. The Mets are doing pretty decent this year. Lot better than anyone thought they’d do. Oh and Adrian Gonzales isn’t the same as he once was but he’s not having as bad of a year as last year so to criticize that signing makes zero sense to me. 5 home runs and 20 rbi isn’t bad at all really for a guy who’s lost his power stroke
Exactly, they are playing well, so lolMets has to step in and say “Hold my beer, ima bring in a washed up prima donna when we probably should just be playing Evans and Nimmo.”
100% Pete Alonso could outperform Ade-Gon right now too, dude is laying waste to AA and if Nats can bring up a 19 year old Soto, the Mets could bring up a 23 year old Alonso. But the lolMets didn’t get this rep from nowhere….
Alonso needs to continue developing defensively.
Agreed @Justin Turner Overdrice 100 percent on everything you said
Exactly ! These aging vets making the minimum are just taking up roster spots that could be used on giving the younger guys a chance!
Agree with you. They’re doing a lot better than we thought. Gonzalez was a bargain and there was nothing to loose. How much do we pay for some guys? Darnaud gets how much? Has he played a full season of you add up all the games in the last three seasons?
Bautista not costing us much and can’t be worse than some of the guys we pay for a lot more.
Darnaud hasn’t panned out to the player he was supposed to be 100 percent agree with you but his numbers last year can’t argue that. Darnaud always seems to do just enough offensivley at the Catching position for the Mets to give him another shot this year though Mets have to finally give up and move along.
Do you mean d’Arnaud hmmmmm…..
Lastings Milledge and Benny Agbayani are killing it in the independent leagues. they should be considered for outfield jobs
What about the Flying Hawaiian?
Shane Victorino
What about him
Bautista provides a big power threat every time he steps to the plate.
And has a lot of hitting knowledge to share with his younger teammates.
If this was 2011 I would agree with you. But it’s not.
That’s it.
Enough.
Swap leagues/divisions.
Mets go to AL East and Red Sox move to NL East. I can’t watch this disgusting fraud of a team.
I like it Casey. I don’t know if you’re joking or not (probably are) but biggest hurdle in your way would probably be Mets’ fans acceptance of a DH (which ironically would help Bautista, who was reportedly brutal in his short stint at 3B for the Braves) and vice versa for the Sox, (Who could use the DH for JD Martinez, who has history of injuries, & defensive shortcomings, but absolutely on a tear, right now)
No I’m definitely not joking.
My first preference is to get rid of the DH and move the Phillies to the AL East and send Tampa to the NL Least. Tampa would fit right in.
Getting rid of the Mets with a Red Sox swap also gets the Phillies a series with the Yankees every year. As it is now the Phillies get three games every third year because the god awful Mets get that home and away “rivalry”(!!!) with the Yankees.
What good is it to have an elite team and then play half your games against NL Least teams with looting owners who don’t care?
I’m for it. If the Mets have a bad year, other AL teams get to feast. I’d hate to see the loss of Yankees/Red Sox series. The potential for a Yanks/Sox World Series? Priceless.
“Get rid of the DH?” Why? Maybe the least interesting thing on earth is watching a pitcher bat.
This is the most Mets thing ever.
Dumb.
Kelly Johnson is available too
They have to wait for the Braves to sign him first so they can send a prospect for him.
I don’t know what’s more of joke Signing Joey Bats or Mets officials having Dom Smith play the outfield because this team literally has zero minor league depth!! We have Alonso who looks like he can be a legit stud at first, and our best prospect in Giminez is at least 2-3 years away minimum. Fellow Mets fans let’s hope and pray Peterson and Dunn pan out. Otherwise we are in big big trouble when they decide to fire sale or realize they will never lock up both Degrom and Thor when the time comes.
its not that the mets dont have depth. its all their quality players are ss and 2b with all their injuries being in the outfield. I dont know why they just dont use flores more and get someone to replace him on the bench. You still have an outfield of Nimmo, Conforto, and Bruce. Joey Bats can be the bench guy like Giambi was for i think it was the Rockies or a one day spell for the outfield until Cespedes comes back..
Mets are still paying Bobby Bo they should go ahead and bring him back.
Oh man I remember Justin Huber. Wow didn’t realize Bautista goes back that far.
Also, dumb Mets signing. Hopefully they give up soon and sell DeGrom and Noah
he batting 5th what will he do.. i got a single to right center
he might do better then cesp and confordo
Strikeout would be my guess.
double to left
To slightly misquote the great Bob Uecker playing Harry Doyle in “Major League”:
“Well obviously the Mets are thinking… actually, I have no idea what the Mets are thinking!”
double to left
And scored on a SF. Good start.
Not to throw too much cold water on things, but Bautista got a hit for Atlanta in each of his first three games with them. He got a total of two more hits in his next nine games before being released.
Well played, Alderson, well played…
Heck why don’t the Mets just sign me at this point! I could hit a buck fifty with like a couple home runs. Just as valuable as Bautista plus I’m younger and cheaper 😉
I genuinely feel bad for Mets fans who think this is a good move. You clearly haven’t watched him play this year or last. The guy simply doesn’t have it anymore.
Another former Atlanta player signed by the Mets. When is The Captain David Wright
coming back?
#cheapmets
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