Jose Bautista demanding $30 million per year

Jose Bautista has set his demands on a contract extension as he looks to become one of the highest paid players in the game.

Jose Bautista is playing hard ball with the Toronto Blue Jays as the end of his contract is coming up. He called his last deal, a five-year $65 million deal which was one of the most team-friendly contracts in all of baseball, a “hometown discount.” In terms of where he is willing to set his negotiations at, two sources told TSN that he is demanding a five-year deal worth $150 million total.

That deal would make him one of the highest paid players in the game. In terms of value to the club, Bautista compared himself to Miguel Cabrera or Derek Jeter. Bautista’s proposed deal would see him make just $1 million less than Cabrera is currently making with the Tigers.

At the very least, he knows that Rogers will have the money to pay him, when he stated in a press conference that “Stock prices are closely monitored by the whole financial world. I think there is a direct correlation with the success of [Rogers] earnings per share after we started experiencing success.”

After the Blue Jays avoided arbitration with Josh Donaldson, they will want to lock up Bautista to an extension too. While what he is asking for is a lot, there is no question that he is the face of the franchise and should be paid as such. After everything he has given to the club, they should give back rather than risk seeing him walk.