Philadelphia Phillies: Jose Bautista acquired from Mets
The Philadelphia Phillies acquired Jose Bautista from the New York Mets today. What can he offer?
As the Philadelphia Phillies have seen their fortunes head south in the last few weeks after some aggressive moves before the July 31st deadline. Seeking a bit of fire under their team, the Phillies acquired Jose Bautista from the New York Mets on Tuesday for a player to be named or cash.
The Phillies will be Bautista’s 8th organization. He was originally drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Chipola College in the 20th round. He was then passed around in a crazy way after being drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 2003 Rule 5 draft. The Orioles placed Bautista on waivers, and he went to the Rays for a month before being purchased by the Royals. The Royals traded Bautista to the Mets, and the Mets immediately included Bautista in a deal with his original team, the Pittsburgh Pirates that sent Kris Benson to New York.
He was traded in 2008 to Toronto, and after spending time with the Toronto hitting coaches, remaking his swing, he came up in 2009 and finished the year on fire before leading the league two seasons in a row in home runs, hitting 54 in 2010 and 43 in 2011.
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Injuries slowed Bautista to a total of 210 games over the 2012 and 2013 seasons, but he hit 55 home runs between those two years. He was able to return in 2014 and 2015 to be a dominant power hitter, hitting 35 and 40 home runs, respectively.
Now 37, Bautista struggled in 2017 to make contact and didn’t have a lot of prospects entering 2018. The Atlanta Braves offered him an opportunity to play third base, and he made it back to the major leagues, but couldn’t hit for a .600 OPS with the Braves. The Braves released Bautista on May 20th.
He signed 2 days later with the Mets, and he’s shown an ability to take a walk and flash a little bit of power, with a .351 OBP and a .163 ISO.
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While Bautista certainly does nothing to improve the struggling Phillies defense, he is known for his excitable personality. That sort of fire could be a very good thing for this team, and especially coming from a veteran on the roster that would have some added respect.