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Originally Posted by cross16
Agreed, bring him back over Bautista so long as they can get him for less than 4 years. Bautista can come back if he takes his QO but at this point i'm not so sure I'd be giving Bautista a multi year deal at the type of dollars he is going to be asking for. I think Bautista is closer to being the full time DH then it looked at the start of this season and as the full time DH EE>> Bautista, IMO.
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Even if you have to give EE 5 years...most historic data and indicators seems to suggest that he should still be a very productive hitter for the next three seasons. So really it would be the final two years that carry the biggest risk. In a perfect world, you can sign him for 3. Hard to predict exactly what the market will bear here, but I'd rather pay EE premium dollars as a DH for 5 years, than give the same annual salary to Bautista for 3. EE has also been the far more consistent producer over the previous 5 years, there really isn't that much variation in his numbers. Only down year being when he only played 128 games, and his production that year was in line with all other seasons if you add 10% for the missed time.
As much as it sucks for Bautista....the team looks to have played their cards right from the business aspect. Now the onus is on Bautista, to get healthy, help the team make the playoffs and kill it in the playoffs if he wants the security of a longer term contract.