OverDrive - Bautista on his Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame induction, Guerrero Jr.'s elite skillset and the Blue Jays' roster views

Episode Date: February 14, 2025

Longtime Blue Jays Outfielder Jose Bautista joins to discuss his induction to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, the accolade for the career, the impact on baseball in the country, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s role on the Blue Jays and his skillset with the team, the additions in Toronto and more.

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Listen on the free iHeartRadio app. Jose Batista here on Overdrive. Jose, how you doing? Congratulations. Thank you very much. I'm doing great, guys. How are you? I think we're all right.

We're all right. Do you get the itch a little bit this time of year with spring training right around the corner? Anything at all of that sort or are you very content in retirement? Not anymore. I did for the first few years, but it's been a while now

and I've obviously come to terms with it and I don't get that itch anymore. I used to, for sure. Well, what was it like this time of year knowing that spring training is around the corner? How did you start mentally preparing for that and how long of a process did that become for you? Well, I used to take the whole off season to mentally prepare, but I was just at this

stage normally I would be like a horse ready to and and be set up to the races and in the paddocks or whatever you call them. You know you'd be antsy if you're yanking at the chain. So it was an exciting time every every season at this time of the year. So it wasn't long ago you were inducted to the Toronto Blue Jays level of excellence. Now the 2025 Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame class take us through the call, the experience and how you found out and how you feel about it. I feel great. Very humbled, very fortunate to be treated in such a way not only by the Blue Jays franchise but Canada in in general. And now another great honor in being inducted into the Canadian Hall of Fame and be joining many greats. So I'm definitely excited to come to St. Mary's this summer

and celebrate with everybody. I found out in my house, getting ready to have dinner, I kind of feel bad for Scott Cropper. They call me to give me the news because when he initially called, I was doing some Zoom calls and I I didn't answer. But I called me to give me the news because when he initially called, I was doing some Zoom calls and I didn't answer. But I called him back. I mean, he caught me by surprise.

That was the last thing that I was thinking that he was calling me about. I thought he was calling me to just make sure we got to spend time at the Joe Carter's event this summer or something like that because we run into each other every now and then in Toronto and he's a class act. But yeah, he gave me the news and I was in shock there for a minute, not going to lie. But it was a great surprise so I was excited. I got a little emotional but it's a great moment for me and my family. I told the family, told the kids, we enjoyed a great dinner and it was a good evening. I'm sure you've been asked this a million times, but you playing for the Blue Jays,

what you accomplished here and what that means for baseball in the country of Canada. Do you ever look back at that and say, man, this had a bigger impact than I could ever even realize while you were going through it? Yeah, I completely agree with that. Obviously, I feel like this question is a better answer from the other direction, but I can tell you how it feels from my perspective. It looks and feels, and I hope that we did get a whole new generation of fans excited about the sport and the Blue Jays, right? Because I couldn't help but to notice that my early days with the Blue Jays,

we weren't necessarily packing it in. But as soon as we got some better teams and we were putting up more wins in the column and climbing up in the standings and making it to playoffs, the stadium was packed. And you can see that a vast majority of our fans were younger and and there were kids that were just excited about baseball again and I'm glad I was able to be a part of the teams that I said allowed that to happen again in Canada and we'll see the product you know in a few years we'll see if there's a few more Canadian Major Leaguers than in the past and I'll be

able to at least think or make myself believe that I was a small influence in that. One of the great Toronto Blue Jays of all time, Jose Bautista, our guest here on Overdrive, Aaron Koronek and Frank Corrado in For the Fellas. In the later part of your Blue Jays tenure, Jose, you did have a little bit of a contract squabble heading into spring training. It was well documented and now Vlad Jr., I wouldn't call it a squabble heading into spring training. It was well documented and now Vlad jr I wouldn't call it a squabble, but certainly it's been a major talking point of conversation around the Toronto baseball market

Have you had the chance to speak to Vlad at all? I know you guys do have a relationship and maybe give him some advice on this subject Listen I think I think he knows and realizes the responsibility that he has and how badly he wants to finish his career there. But ultimately, I think both parties will try their best in trying to figure this out. I'm a firm believer in that. I think at face value, at least everybody would admit that is the best thing for both sides.

And I'm hopeful. I'm hopeful they figure it out. I'm not very close to the negotiations part of it even though uh... bloody and i really good friend i try to they uh... keep my nose out of it and let them kind of play out uh... selfishly

i can't imagine bloody playing uh... in any other uniform and then i believe it in the form some unholy that they figured out in well that's uh... you know music to the ears of a lot of jays fans who don't want to see flatty go in you know you're very close to him you know his game well like if you were evaluating where flatty can be you know in the grand scope of

the league when it comes to the power hitters the superstars like where you see Vladdy? What tier of player or superstar level can he reach? I mean, he's already proven it. I don't think if he can reach any higher, we might be talking about somebody breaking Otani's record, right? I think he's as good as he gets. It's just a matter of figuring out the terms. And again,

I'll keep my nose out of that part. But he's invaluable in my opinion to any franchise that he may end up playing for. And I think any team should be honored and privileged of having a guy like that in part of their organization. The things that he can do go well beyond the impact of hits, walks, RBIs, and home runs. So again, I really want them to figure it out soon. So I can be as excited as everybody else when I'm tuning in on opening day or maybe even come in person and watch it. There we go now we're talking Jose Batista our guest a legend of the Toronto Blue Jays he is a member of the 2025 class of the Canadian baseball Hall of Fame you play in the AL East a long time Jose you know how

competitive is and this year will be no different Toronto making some moves in free agency that I think a lot of people like Santander is a J Jeff Hoff Jeff Hoffman they trade for Jimenez, they bring in Max Scherzer, someone who I'm sure you faced many many times. What is your assessment of what Toronto was able to do in the offseason? You know it's tough because I think they had high hopes and sometimes the ball just doesn't fall in your direction or the chips, you know, go in a different way. I'm sure if you ask Ross or Mark, they'll say the same thing. It certainly seems like the effort is there, but the offseason is also not over.

I think the team has much improved. There's no doubt about that. And at the end of the day, you know, from the front office side, you can sign, not sign, and do what you want to do, but when it's all said and done, it's the guys between the lines that dictate the wins and losses. So I'm very confident in the group they have together. It's just a matter of them figuring it out amongst the group, building that confidence, tackling every game together as a unit and becoming a force that ultimately yields more value than the sum of its parts just because they

come together well and they figure out how to win no matter what. So you guys got to step up as leaders. I think adding a guy like Mark Scherzer on the pitching side will you know provide a different perspective. The sound from sentence there is definitely gonna help. I think the growth of Vlad and Bo, who by the way we haven't talked about, and I'm hoping that they figure out with him long term too. Those two guys are mainstays and pillars

of any organization. So that's a great core to build off of. And they're all together this year, hopefully not just for this year, but if they come together well and those guys step up as leaders, this guy's the limit for this team. The contract negotiations are obviously very interesting, but we've now seen back-to-back off-seasons where two deals are signed and one $700 million, one $765 million.

Did you ever imagine that this kind of money was going to be thrown around in the year 2024 your 2025 No, it's a crazy surprise. I mean even like a rough deal with 350 back in the day still Still would what a surprise, you know many folks but I guess is where where the game is going price you know many folks but I guess is where where the game is going you know even on a year or a year basis for shorter deals like Bregman just signed the numbers are what they are you know I guess the value is there for some clubs with these guys contributions and if that's where the sports headed that I guess dictated by supply and demand but I didn't think it was possible in my lifetime

but it's worth going for sure. Too bad for you Jose that you weren't a free agent in 2025 after hitting 54 bombs for the Jays back in 2010. If so, big cash. But you did just fine. You're a legend here in this city and now a legend here in this country as a future member of the Canadian baseball Hall of Fame.

We can't thank you enough for doing this and hopefully we see you here up in Toronto in the summertime. All right, fellas. Thank you both. This was fun and anytime you need me, give me a holler. You know it. Jose Batista.