‘Hate-to-lose’ players revitalized Jays
Bautista says team’s culture positively affected with arrival of Donaldson and Martin
Some years it has been called Swing Away Sundays.
Or Mad Mondays. Whatever the fallout, the 26th annual state of the union took place on the weekend inside the Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.
Adam Lind, Casey Janssen, Jason Frasor, Vernon Wells, Carlos Delgado, Roy Halladay and others have taken turns at examining the team prepared to leave camp and looking at the coming season.
The honour always goes to the longest-serving member in uniform and for the second straight spring, Jose Bautista sat at his locker and addressed last season, this season and whatever else.
General manager J.P. Ricciardi sent catcher Robinson Diaz to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Bautista Aug. 21, 2008. For seven seasons and 38 days, Bautista has been with the Jays. His eighth season begins next Sunday afternoon against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Bautista is the first Jay to handle state of the union duties as a defending American League East champion since catcher Pat Borders in 1994.
Bautista was not apologizing for anything that happened in 2015 — flipped or not flipped.
And there is “nothing to report on the contract front,” he says as he enters his free agent year.
So we turn the floor over to the senior member of the Jays from Santo Domingo.
A year ago at Olympic Stadium we asked Bautista how the Blue Jays could go into the season trying to win with six rookies? The Jays arrived at Yankee Stadium opening night with a balanced attack: two rookies in the everyday lineup (second baseman Devon Travis and centre-fielder Dalton Pompey), two in the rotation (Aaron Sanchez and Daniel Norris) and two in the bullpen (Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro).
Bautista claimed then that age didn’t matter as long as “players executed.”
Does Bautista wish he had done anything different last season? “Like what?” Like maybe not flip the bat? What if he had tossed the bat away like his any of his other 286 homers. He shook his head, no. But then he was told he would not be taking criticism from Hall of Famers like Goose Gossage, Mike Schmidt and any ex-player over the age of 40.
“Do you think I care? Really?” said Bautista. “I care about winning. I care about my team.”
Who has been the most impressive player Bautista has seen in camp this spring?
With the usual “I don’t see every game, so I haven’t seen every inning,” disclaimer others give each spring, he named outfielder Darrell Ceciliani.
“The kid can hit, he will contribute,” says the former two-time majorleague home run champ, “I’m not sure what is going to happen but he fits nicely onto our roster with his lefty bat. We don’t have a lot of lefthanded hitters. We do have Michael Saunders who hits left in left.”
And what of the returning players?
“Ryan Goins’ swing look improved and he looks to be running better than a year ago,” said Bautista. “But really, how much better do you expect Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, Edwin Encarnacion, Chris Colabello and Kevin Pillar to be?” Good point. A lot was made of changing the clubhouse culture last spring (Colby Rasmus, Adam Lind, Brett Lawrie, Anthony Gose out; Donaldson and Martin in) and the Jays did win, but it took a second influx of talent (six players) at the deadline for the Jays to go from a .500 team to a winner.
“We had a turnover and I’m not criticizing the game of the guys who left, but certain personalties might not have jelled here,” Bautista said. “It was refreshing to see Donaldson come in. He hates to lose. Before we had guys who like to win, but didn’t hate to lose. It was a different style. Now we have guys who love to win and hate to lose.
“It all changes when you are winning.”
The newcomers came over the wall before and after the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline: LaTroy Hawkins, Troy Tulowitzki, David Price, Ben Revere, Mark Lowe and Cliff Pennington, as Alex Anthopoulos went on a trading spree.
“All were fierce competitors, established guys,” Bautista said. “In Price we had an ace. Every team has a guy who starts opening day, but David Price could handle big situations. R.A. Dickey won a Cy Young award and has outstanding numbers but from an ace you expect a different repertoire than a knuckleball.
“I do know our bullpen is happy when R.A. starts. He gives most of them the day off.”
What concerns does Bautista have heading into the season?
“It’s spring training, sometimes it is difficult to judge,” Bautista said. “Sanchez is a decision still to be made. I’m sure we’ll make the best decision.”
What team do the Jays have to worry about most in their division?
“The Blue Jays,” said Bautista. “Every team is good. The New York Yankees always seem to be getting older, but they have a lot of depth.
“Boston is a very talented group, but they haven’t accomplished a lot the last two years. Tampa Bay has youth, the defence and the pitching. Baltimore looks like it will really hit.”
How many homers does Bautista think he’ll hit? He hit 40 last season at age 34.
“Who cares? If we don’t win again, does it matter?” says Bautista.
How many wins will the Jays have this year?
“One more than the second-place team,” said Bautista, which was his answer last year.
He was told he was wrong — the Jays had six more wins than the Yankees.
“But we only needed one more,” Bautista said.
So, next spring, Bautista is asked ... does he want to do this interview in Montreal, where he did last year’s inaugural or in Dunedin?
“That’s up to Mr. Shapiro,” he says.