TORONTO

Near the end of Jose Bautista’s media availability on Saturday, his teammate Marcus Stroman — playing the part of a journalist but with much hipper garb and better prospects — asked Bautista if the ‘Bautista Blast’ would be returning to Booster Juice franchises in Canada.

A question meant to entice a few laughs, but Bautista’s answer was revealing in a way. The Blue Jays right-fielder said that being a spokesman for Booster Juice (and a franchisee) will hopefully open up more doors to own more businesses in Toronto in the future.

Bautista was straight to the point with most of his answers on Saturday, a couple of days after signing a new contract with the Jays that will guarantee $18 million US in 2017 with a $17 million mutual option for the 2018 season, as well as a $20 million vesting option for 2019.

But on the topic of his returning to Toronto (when at times during the off-season it looked like he might be going elsewhere), Bautista was sincere and passionate (though nowhere near as passionate as when he disagrees with an umpire’s balls and strikes).

The 36-year-old slugger made it be known that his desire was always to return to the place where he has played for the past nine seasons, so much so that he claims to have walked away from more lucrative and longer term deals from other clubs.

“I wanted to be here because I’ve enjoyed success here, I’ve been here for a long time and this market, this city, this country, wherever you play or live for 10 years, it almost ends up becoming a part of you,” Bautista said. “Those are the main reasons why I wanted to be back. Also because we have a great team and we’re capable of winning. We have a great fan base that has been extremely supportive and amongst the best in baseball and all sports. They’re crazy, they’re loud, they come out and root for you and they transfer that energy to us on the field, especially when the playoffs come around. It gets turned up another notch here and I’ve spoken of that in the past. Knowing that there’s that passion not only in Toronto but in the whole country — and we have a huge following — all those things make Toronto — along with the fact that I’ve been here for a long time — an extremely desirable place to stay for me.”

Bautista reportedly said at spring training last year that his demands for a new deal were non-negotiable, that he wanted an extension of five years and $150 million, a report he described on Saturday as “rumours."

He acknowledged though that he was of course disappointed not to get a longer term deal but said, ultimately, he did get what he wanted, and that was to return to Toronto.

“I felt that the feeling of reuniting (with the Jays) was always mutual,” said Bautista, whose numbers dipped last year as a result of a couple trips to the disabled list. “I think we picked up communications and conversations after the winter meetings and I would say probably right after New Year’s it kind of started picking up and started a little more serious.”

In the end, both parties find themselves in a pretty good place. The Jays can walk away from a player who will be 37 next season if they believe his drop in productivity is a permanent situation. And Bautista can opt for free agency and get an even more lucrative deal if he has a big 2017.

Bautista’s agent Jay Alou said eventually it will become known what other teams offered his client deals this off season and that it was pretty obvious during his negotiations that his man wanted to stay in Toronto, even if that may have put him in a more difficult position as an agent looking for the best deal.

“Well, it does show me a lot about Jose and how much the city means to him,” said Alou. “I mean I’ve always known it means a lot to him, and now I confirm (that) he loves his fans. This is where he wanted to be.”

Jays GM Ross Atkins said last week that he expects Bautista to have bounce back season in 2017 after injuries slowed him down last year. Atkins said an arm injury the six-time all-star suffered in 2015 was also a factor in Bautista’s play last year.

“Well, I’m feeling great,” said Bautista when asked about his health and his throwing arm. “The injuries that I sustained last year where because I ran into a wall and my cleat got caught in the turf (toe injury), so it had nothing to do with my preparation. I just continue to get strong and get better. My arm is two years away from an injury and feeling much better than it did last year at this time so I’m excited about that and being able to contribute on defence like I used to.”

JAYS ‘STILL AMONG BEST’

Some baseball insiders and fans might feel that Joey Bats is a little batty or just preaching the party line when he says the Blue Jays can contend this year despite losing Edwin Encarnacion to free agency.

But Jose Bautista says he’s sincere.

“Well, the division’s strong again,” acknowledged Bautista. “Some of our opponents have gotten much better (but) I feel like we’ve made some moves that are making us a strong contender as well. We did lose out on Edwin (who’s) one of the best hitters in the game and I wish him the best. He’s not here anymore, we’ve all got to accept that and move on. But we have a very capable replacement in Kendrys Morales and hopefully he can have the type of year that he’s capable of having. And as a unit we can always play better baseball and our pitching’s strong and our defence is great, so we’re still up there amongst the best in the American League.”

Bautista will undoubtedly play mostly in right-field this year though he’s open to play other positions if the need arises.

“I’ve always been open to that, I’ve played numerous positions while I’ve been here, I played numerous positions last year,” he said. “I’ll do whatever it takes for my team to be in the best position to win. That’s always been a part of who I am as a player.”

When asked if that means batting lead-off again, Bautista said: “Again, I’ll do whatever my manager asks me to do. As long as I’m helping my team win and I’m doing what management and the manager feels like we need on that particular day, I’ll do. I’m a soldier, one of 25 soldiers that’s out to win battles everyday, to hopefully win the war at the end of the season.”