Blue Jays: Jose Bautista should be next on the Level of Excellence

The highest honor a Toronto Blue Jay can get from the organization is being placed in the Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre. The names of those who are honoured are displayed on the facing of the 500 level at Rogers Centre for everyone to see. Spots on the Level of Excellence are reserved for the best of the best in Blue Jays history whether it’s a player, a manager, or even a broadcaster.

The Level of Excellence displays the names of several Blue Jays greats including the likes of Roy Halladay, Tony Fernandez, Carlos Delgado, Joe Carter, George Bell, and Dave Stieb. It also displays former manager Cito Gaston, broadcaster Tom Cheek, and executives Paul Beeston and Pat Gillick.

These players and employees either hold team records, worked with the team for a long time, or have memorable moments that fans will remember forever like Joe Carter’s home run to win the 1993 World Series.

Jose Bautista should be the 11th member of the Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre thanks to his contributions on the field for the Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays acquired Jose Bautista from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for catcher Robinzon Diaz. Diaz would play 44 career games in the Major Leagues.

This was not seen as a big-time blockbuster. Bautista was a journeyman. He had played for four different teams prior to the trade and was nothing more than a utility man who had shown a little bit of pop. His best season before arriving in Toronto came in 2007 when he slashed .254/.339/.414 with 15 home runs and 63 RBI.

Once arriving in Toronto, Bautista got off to a slow start. He slashed .214/.237/.411 with three home runs and 10 RBI in 21 games in 2008. The following season he’d hit just .235 with 13 home runs and 40 RBI in 113 games. However, a switch flipped in 2010.

Bautista transitioned to a full-time outfielder after being used primarily as a third baseman in his career previously, and he absolutely took off. In the 2010 season, Bautista slashed .260/.378/.617 with 54 home runs and 124 RBI. He made his first All-Star team, took home his first Silver Slugger Award, and finished in fourth place in the American League MVP balloting. In the five years he played before, he combined for 59 home runs and 211 RBI. It was one of the more unexpected and unpredictable jumps in production ever.

Bautista was no one-year wonder, either. He followed up his 54 home run season with another 43 home runs. He drove in 103 runs and led the American League in slugging percentage and OPS. Bautista would make six consecutive All-Star games from 2010-2015. He’d win three Silver Slugger Awards and finish in the top eight in the MVP balloting four times.

He also has a signature moment as a member of the Blue Jays. In Game 5 of the 2015 ALDS Bautista was the one who hit the three-run home run to give the Blue Jays the lead. It was one of the biggest moments in franchise history.

Bautista is the franchise leader in bWAR, second in home runs and runs scored, third in total bases and RBI, fifth in games played, and sixth in hits.

He’s without a doubt one of the best position players in Blue Jays history and deserves a spot among the rest of the franchise’s great players.