Blue Jays almost to a deal with Jose Bautista

After losing Edwin Encarnacion to the Indians earlier this offseason, it appears the Blue Jays will retain their other big free agent slugger, Jose Bautista.

There have been rumblings of a potential reunion between Bautista and the Blue Jays pretty much all offseason, though things really picked up in recent weeks.

Jose Bautista is reportedly nearing a return to the Blue Jays.

At the moment the Blue Jays are slated to go into the 2017 with Kevin Pillar in center field and some combination of Melvin Upton, Ezequiel Carrera, Steve Pearce, and Dalton Pompey in the corner outfield spots.

Bautista’s seemingly inevitably return will allow him to slide back into right field, relegating Upton and Carrera to platoon duty in left field while Pearce moves around between the outfield, first base, and DH.

Bautista should be a lifelong Blue Jay.

The Blue Jays benefit because Bautista puts butts in the seats and he benefits by being beloved.

Adding Bautista to the roster helps the Blue Jays more than a draft pick given the team’s contention window.

Once Bautista officially returns to the Blue Jays — and it feels inevitably at this point, it has for a few weeks now — Trumbo will be the only remaining unsigned qualified free agent.

Beyond outfield help, a problem Bautista will solve, the Blue Jays figure to focus on adding a backup catcher and left-handed relief help.