The Toronto Blue Jays have locked up slugger Jose Bautista to a five-year deal that will pay Bautista more than $60 million.  Bautista is coming off a 2010 season in which he led the major leagues with 54 home runs.  Bautista had not been a huge power hitter before last season, making some people skeptical that he can approach that number again.  However, the Jays figured that he was worth the risk.  “If we can’t bet on him, we can’t bet on anybody.  That’s what it really came down to,” Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos said at a news conference on Thursday.

“The easy thing for me and the organization to do was to not do anything and say, ‘Well, it was one year,’” Anthopoulos continued.  ”The conservative approach was to let him play it out.  If he has a great season maybe he prices himself out of what we thought made sense.  If he doesn’t have a good season, well, it would have been a good move not to sign him.”  The Jays finished third in the American League east last season and are better than most people realize.  They’re going to have trouble competing with the likes of the Yankees and Red Sox, but don’t completely count them out.

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