Jose Bautista willing to 'play anywhere, or hit anywhere' as he enters free agency

Jose Bautista’s game-changing power is sure to make him one of the more highly sought after free agents in this winter’s shallow class. But it might be his versatility in the field and his willingness to be flexible that best position him to cash in.

According to FOX Sports’ Jon Morosi, the agent for Bautista, Jay Alou, says his client is prepared to use both his versatility and his flexibility as a selling point to engage potential suitors. That means opening himself up to play a different defensive position or bat anywhere in the order, as long as it helps his team contend.

That attitude should go a long way toward increasing Bautista’s his value, while perhaps bringing a few new teams into the mix.

In the past, Bautista has shown the ability to play both corner outfield positions, in addition to third base and first base. That versatility has gone mostly overlooked though, mainly because he’s been anchored in right field during his time in Toronto. Granted, he might not provide top flight defense at any of those positions, but the signing team will obviously be weighing his offensive upside over any other factors.

With that in mind, Bautista’s offensive versatility will also be valuable to suitors. Over the past three seasons he’s hit everywhere from leadoff to fourth in Toronto’s batting order, and he’s managed to maintain his productivity. That could lead some teams to reexamine where Bautista would fit, and perhaps shift his market in a direction even he hasn’t anticipated.

At this early stage in free agency there’s no real feel for how Bautista’s market will develop. We do know though that Toronto remains firmly on his radar. They may even be his preference based strictly on baseball reasons.

“He loves the city, loves the fans,” Alou told Jon Heyman of Today’s Knuckleball. “I didn’t realize how much he loves it there. And he really feels he has unfinished business.”

Unfinished business can be quite a motivating factor. Now it’ll be interesting to see how motivated Toronto is to bring him back. It’s no secret the Blue Jays have engaged Edwin Encarnacion in contract talks, perhaps indicating he’s a higher priority on their list. How that situation plays out could have a huge impact on Bautista’s market, and perhaps effectively eliminate Toronto from the situation should Encarnacion re-sign.

It’s also noted Bautista hasn’t ruled out accepting the $17.2MM qualifying offer from Toronto. We’d believe that when we saw it, but it’s at least an option until Monday.

To put it simply, there are a lot of moving parts right now. Stances will change daily. Talks will remain fluid in the days and perhaps weeks ahead. Only when the first few dominoes in free agency and the trade markets fall will we have a better idea of the overall landscape.

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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at bigleaguestew@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter!

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