Bautista: I'd be 'stupid' to leave Blue Jays

Just because he won't take a hometown discount, doesn't mean he won't stay at home.

Jose Bautista knows he's going to get big money from someone when he hits free agency, but in an interview with Sports Illustrated's Tom Verducci he made one thing clear: He wants to stay in Toronto.

“I love the city,” Bautista said. “I’d be stupid to leave.”

In spring training, Bautista shut down negotiation talks, putting them on hold until the offseason. At the time, he failed to specify what it would take to keep him with the Blue Jays, and he stayed mum in his interview with Verducci.

But Bautista said the fact that he won't accept a discounted price from the Blue Jays doesn't mean he doesn't want to stay in Toronto. It just means he wants to get paid what he believes he's worth.

“I will explore every single option, whether it happens or not with the new regime, to continue to try to stay here,” Bautista said.

“That being said, I think teams utilize that a lot against players, (seeking) a discount or bargain price, and I think that’s extremely unfair, especially to have your biggest contributors on the field and try to take advantage of the fact that they like it there and negotiate a tougher deal.”