MLB Rumors: Orioles told Jose Bautista he’s not a fit because fans don’t like him

The Baltimore Orioles told free agent outfielder Jose Bautista he’s not a fit with them because their fans don’t like him. 

Jose Bautista’s market has quickly gotten quiet. With few teams looking to add the aging outfielder who might be better off as a DH, his options are dwindling. Joey Bats can officially count the Baltimore Orioles out of the running for him — but it has very little to do with his age or defense.

That’s one way of telling a player bluntly, “no thank you!”

To be fair, the Orioles have claimed to want to keep their draft pick in recent years, but have signed free agents like Nelson Cruz, Ubaldo Jimenez and Yovani Gallardo later in the offseason. So don’t completely rule out Bautista in Baltimore.

However, after hearing the fans don’t like him, he might not have any desire to play for the Orioles unless they pay him enough. No word yet if the Texas Rangers have reached out to Bautista to tell him the same thing.

So why do Orioles fans hate him? Because he does well against them and he has an ongoing feud with fan favorite Darren O’Day.

While Bautista is an excellent player, the free agent isn’t well liked around baseball. Bautista tends to showboat and bat flip, which is awesome if he’s on your team, but ultra annoying if he isn’t. Also, his constant complaining doesn’t help his reputation. When people applaud when you get punched in the face, you know you’re not too popular.

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Bautista’s market is going to be interesting. He’s coming off a down year, with just 22 home runs in 116 games in 2016. However, Bautista has undeniable power and gets on base at a very impressive rate. Even though his defense is below-average at best, teams might still be interested in him as a DH. Bautista will likely sign somewhere he can DH most of the time and perhaps spend a few games in the outfield. At least the Orioles were honest with him.