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Blue Jays officially sign Bautista to 1-year deal

Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports

Joey Bats has returned.

The Toronto Blue Jays welcomed back one of their franchise greats Wednesday, officially announcing the signing of outfielder Jose Bautista to a one-year, $18-million contract.

The deal also contains a $17-million mutual option for 2018, and a $20-million vesting option in 2019. Both options can be bought out for $500,000.

There are also attendance bonuses in the deal that could pay Bautista $150,000 for each milestone reached, according to Jon Heyman of MLB Network.

The signing concludes a long saga that stretched from spring training through an injury-filled 2016 campaign and a depressed free-agent market with fewer suitors than expected. Bautista rejected the Blue Jays' $17.2-million qualifying offer in November in search of a multi-year deal, but reportedly softened his stance on a one-year agreement as the offseason went on - provided that his 2017 salary beat the qualifying offer.

Related - Road back home: Reliving a roller-coaster 12 months for Bautista

Bautista, once property of five teams in a single season, first arrived in Toronto in August 2008 and broke through with a 54-homer campaign in 2010. Over his nine years in Canada, the 36-year-old has emerged as the face of the franchise during the Blue Jays' recent renaissance, helping the team break a 22-year playoff drought in 2015 and providing one of the most iconic homers and bat flips in both Blue Jays and postseason history. A two-time winner of the Hank Aaron Award, Bautista ranks at or near the top of virtually every Blue Jays offensive category.

HR-RANK RBI-RANK HITS-RANK RUNS-RANK GP-RANK OPS-RANK
265-2 701-5 984-9 698-5 1078-9 .910-3

Last season, Bautista appeared in just 116 games due to injury, but still posted a .817 OPS and belted 22 homers to help guide Toronto to a second straight playoff berth.

Bautista earned $14 million in 2016.

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