As the Major League Baseball is taking its long break, many teams are positioning itself to make a trade this winter offseason. And it seems that the Minnesota Twins are making a move and reportedly interested on Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista.
Bautista is one of the important pieces who help the Blue Jays reach the American League Championship Series last season. However, they were booted out by the Cleveland Indians in 5 games and unable to reach the World Series. And with a disappointing season, the team wants to rebuild and said to be unloading some of its superstar players including Bautista.
Up until now, Bautista has not re-signed with the Blue Jays nor the team have offered him a contract to him, heating up speculations that he is being lined-up on the trading block. The 36-year old slugger from the Dominican Republic has .234 averages, 22 home runs, 69 RBI and a .366 OBP last season. Having him available in the trade market will surely draw attention to many teams.
And it seems that the Minnesota Twins are the first one to make a move of acquiring him. According to CBSSports, the Twins organization have been in touch with Jose Bautista's representative asking the availability of the slugger aside from talking to several agents of some open players.
A dismal 59-103 win-loss record makes them the worst American League team last year. Twins new chief baseball officer Derek Falvey and new senior VP and general manager Thad Levine had been doing an evaluation of the team this offseason hoping to build a competitive roster. And going after Bautista could be an ideal move for them.
However, aside from the Twins, the Philadelphia Phillies are also targeting Bautista and find him a good fit for their system. Looking at the situation, it seems that this is a battle of two teams for Bautista but a recent report has exposed that he would remain with the Blue Jays.
MLB.com reported that the Toronto Blue Jays are already locking up on veteran outfielder Bautista and said to be closing a deal to have him stay as per league source. Having him back on the roster would fill in the gap in the Toronto's outfield. It is also tough for the team if ever they will let go of him having played for the franchise for seven years.
With this notion, acquiring Jose Bautista from the Toronto Blue Jays might be difficult for the Minnesota Twins but they can still try and maybe can pull off a great deal for him.
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