DUNEDIN, Fla. - The clock continues to tick for the Toronto Blue Jays and Jose Bautista to reach a multi-year deal ahead of their rescheduled arbitration hearing later this week.
General manager Alex Anthopoulos, speaking publicly Wednesday for the first time since Monday's hearing with the home run champion was postponed, said the delay was needed, "to continue to have dialogue with him and his representatives."
Like always, he refused to offer any updates beyond that, but he did repeat that he will not negotiate a one-year deal with the home run champion, as per team policy once salary arbitration figures are exchanged.
In 2008, the Blue Jays and Alex Rios agreed to a US$4.8-million, one-year deal to avoid arbitration and buy time for them to wrap up a $69.8-million, seven-year extension.
There will be no repeat of that, as Bautista will either sign a multi-year deal or get a one-year contract through a hearing reportedly scheduled for Friday, the final day of arbitration.
"Once the exchange date is in place we would not do a straight one-year deal, irrespective of what the dollar amount would be," said Anthopoulos. "When you have policies, you better stick to them."
Bautista is seeking $10.5 million while the club responded at $7.6 million and the arbitrator must choose one or the other.
Eligible for free agency after the season, Bautista has said he would like to remain in Toronto but will negotiate a longer deal during the year.
He hit 54 home runs during a breakthrough 2010 season, more than tripling his previous career best of 16, and is now in Arizona, where the hearing is scheduled, awaiting a resolution to the matter.
"I'm sure he's finding his way into the gym to keep his lifts going, but as far as baseball activity, I'm sure that's been put on the back-burner for the short-time being," said manager John Farrell. "You're talking about somebody who was in great shape during the early workouts here and I don't anticipate too much time needed to get back up to speed."
Assistant GM Jay Sartori was in Arizona to represent the club, while Anthopoulos has been handling negotiations with Bautista's agent, Bean Stringfellow.
One of the challenges for the Blue Jays is trying to figure out whether Bautista's 2010 production is his new norm, or a one-year blip, and how to compensate him fairly in years to come.
Anthopoulos believes in judging a player's character and that worth ethic helps provide a truer sense of the person.
"The person will lead you in the right direction," he said. "If you make the right bet that way, you end up being right more often than not."
He added that he is strongly against deals with performance bonuses and vesting options, fearing that players may end up distracted by trying to reach them, or by lineup decisions that may effect their ability to achieve them.
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RAUCH ON HOLD: Reliever John Rauch is being held from his bullpen sessions after turning his right ankle while walking down a flight of stairs.
He threw long toss from 170 feet Wednesday, and wants to get on a mound, but manager John Farrell said there was no need to rush him.
"We're able to keep his arm moving, it's not going to decondition itself," said Farrell. "If it were a starting pitching, it'd be a little bit different, but the fact that he's a reliever, we've got time on our side. We just want to be precautionary."
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TEN TO START: The Blue Jays will audition seven starters behind the starting rotation's front threesome of Ricky Romero, Brandon Morrow, and Brett Cecil.
Kyle Drabek, Jesse Litsch, Marc Rzepczynski, Brad Mills, Zack Stewart, Scott Richmond and Jo-Jo Reyes will also be stretched out during Grapefruit League games to compete for jobs.
They'll need to make an impression quickly.
"Obviously there are only so many games that we can play in that 30-day stretch," said manager John Farrell. "The second time through the rotation, where you can begin to piggyback and split some guys up, we've got a couple of B games scheduled, innings will start to become scarce. That's when our decisions have to start to take over."
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TWO MORE IN THE COUP: Centre-fielder Rajai Davis and Cuban shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria were the latest position players to arrive in Blue Jays camp Wednesday.
Positions players don't have to report until Friday, with the first full squad workout set for Saturday.
