Orioles' Davis rips Bautista: 'He's a guy who's easy to dislike'

Maybe fan reaction wasn't the only reason the Baltimore Orioles didn't pursue Jose Bautista.

A new chapter in the ongoing feud between Bautista and the Orioles was written on Saturday afternoon thanks to Baltimore's star slugger, Chris Davis. While speaking to fans at the Orioles' annual FanFest, Davis took a moment to rip into the Toronto Blue Jays' star outfielder, who's long been one of the most detested athletes among Baltimore's sports fans.

"He's actually a pretty good dude - said no one ever," Davis quipped, according to Jon Solomon of CBS Sports. "... He's a guy who's easy to dislike."

Though the Blue Jays-Orioles rivalry has often been intense over its 41-year history, Bautista's arrival in Toronto and subsequent emergence as a brash, outspoken superstar has pushed their rivalry to another level. In 2013, he famously homered off Orioles reliever Darren O'Day, then delivered some smack talk to both Davis and the rest of the Orioles while rounding the bases; two years later, he angrily homered several pitches after the Orioles threw behind him. Once again he mouthed off to his opponents while rounding the bases, and nearly started a brawl with Adam Jones.

Related: 5 best moments of Blue Jays-Orioles rivalry

Despite all that bad blood, the Orioles were linked to Bautista while he was still a free agent, but general manager Dan Duquette quickly poured cold water on any thought of the 36-year-old joining the enemy.

"We told (Bautista's) agent that we are not interested because our fans don't like him. Our fans don't like Jose Bautista, with good reason," Duquette told reporters at the winter meetings, though he later attempted to clarify the remark.

Bautista has hit 28 of his 308 career home runs against the Orioles, with 13 of those coming at Camden Yards. Ironically, the six-time All-Star actually began his career with the Orioles as their 2004 Rule 5 pick, but was waived that June after going just 3-for-11 in 16 games.