Report: Blue Jays haven't made offer to Bautista

Jose Bautista wants to be in Toronto, but the Blue Jays may not want him back.

Since Bautista rejected his $17.2-million qualifying offer in November, the Blue Jays have yet to extend the 36-year-old another proposal, according to the Toronto Star's Richard Griffin.

Bautista's agent, Jay Alou, said he and his client are wondering why the two sides haven't struck a deal yet, based on the player's wants and the team's needs.

“He, more than anybody, is a little confused on how things have gone," Alou said.

"It’s clear that he loves the place. He absolutely wants to be there, as opposed to a lot of players that there’s hurdles being over there, going to Toronto, going through immigration, the (stadium) turf, all that. Jose really likes it. He likes everything about the city. He loves the fans.

“It is almost the perfect fit," Alou added. "They need some corner guys."

On that point, he's right. The Blue Jays are in one of baseball's toughest divisions, and if the season started tomorrow they'd walk in with an outfield consisting of Melvin Upton Jr., Kevin Pillar, and Ezequiel Carrera.

While the trio has its own hometown flair, they're hardly a premier core:

Last season alone, Bautista had more home runs than all three of them combined, despite being limited to 116 games.

So while it makes sense for Toronto to re-sign Bautista - given he wants to come back and has received minimal interest from other teams - general manager Ross Atkins has said Bautista remains an option down the road.

"(Jose’s) question is, 'What is (the Jays') plan? I want to be part of it and I want to help build something.’ That just disappeared," Alou said.

"Is the plan to rebuild? Is the plan to try and win the next three years, four? How are we going to do this? What are the missing pieces?

"He’s a leader. He wanted to be engaged and what is the plan?”