Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Jose Bautista swings his bat while catcher Russell Martin works behind him during a workout at the Bobby Mattick Training Center in Dunedin, Fla., on Friday.Jonathan Dyer
When Jose Bautista gazes around the clubhouse here at Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, there sits Russell Martin, the new starting catcher of the Toronto Blue Jays. In seven of the nine seasons that Martin has played in the majors, his teams have made it to the playoffs. And he has been an all-star on three occasions.
When the heavy-hitting Toronto right fielder looks to the other side of the clubhouse, he spies Josh Donaldson, the new starting third baseman. The past two years, Donaldson has finished in the top 10 in voting for the American League's Most Valuable Player Award; last year he was an all-star for the first time, and helped the Oakland A's reach the playoffs.
The baseball pedigree of both Martin and Donaldson is unquestionable, Bautista believes. They also have a reputation for not being afraid to speak their minds in a clubhouse when the goings get tough.
To Bautista's way of thinking, this will be a refreshing culture change to what he has witnessed the past couple of seasons with the Blue Jays, who have failed to make the playoffs since 1993.
"You walk around after a loss or a crucial game, or a bad beating that you took," Bautista said. "Sometimes, you see people and you don't know what they're thinking. I'd rather at least know. I can't say that I can read minds and I can't say that I thought that guys didn't care. But if I don't know, it makes me think."
Bautista was not naming names of players he felt might had become complacent after losses. But you can tell by the large overhaul of player personnel that has gone on since the end of the 2014 season that management believed a new culture was critical to future success.
Bautista was speaking his mind following the first full-squad workout of the Blue Jays' spring training on Friday.
And there was some good news concerning Michael Saunders, pencilled in as the Blue Jays' starting left fielder, who injured his left knee on Wednesday. Saunders had surgery on Friday to repair a torn meniscus after he stepped on a sprinkler head while shagging flies in one of the practice fields.
Originally, the Blue Jays were projecting that Saunders would be out until the All-Star Game in July. But Toronto general manager Alex Anthopoulos said on Friday that instead of trying to repair the damaged portion of the meniscus, Saunders opted to have it removed.
By doing so, Saunders will increase his chances of suffering arthritis in his joint, but his road to recovery will shorten considerably. Saunders could be ready to return to the Toronto lineup by mid-April, meaning he would only be missing the first two weeks of the regular season.
While Saunders is on the sideline, the makeup of the Toronto outfield will be another problem on the plate of manager John Gibbons, along with who will be starting at second base.
Rookie Dalton Pompey appears to have the inside track to start in centre field, with Kevin Pillar a likely candidate to play in left.
The Blue Jays were in first place for 61 games last season in the AL East before they crumpled out of contention in August and finished third with an 83-79 record. As usual, Bautista continued to roll while many others were faltering – finishing the season hitting .286 with 35 home runs and 103 runs batted in.
Bautista does not think the fact that Toronto led the AL East for a long stretch in 2014 will affect how the team performs this year. "I don't think that matters," he said. "We could have come in second place, we could have lost in the World Series. If we're not world champions, that's the only thing that matters.
"Whatever happened last year and how many days we were in first and where we ended up and all that stuff, it's in the past. We just need to focus on this year. We have a much better team in place, I feel like, and we need to just go after this year."