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Jays officials suggest Bautista will appear in right field for most games next season in addition to at the plate.Tom Szczerbowski/Getty Images

Returning to his old digs may not have been the first choice for either the Toronto Blue Jays or Jose Bautista. But the baseball club is betting that the aging slugger will rediscover his sweet power stroke and help carry the team in 2017.

The Blue Jays are so certain that the 36-year-old will return to form that they built a bonus into his contract that will be paid if Rogers Centre attendance continues to swell. "I think he's capable of what he's done year in and year out … a six-time all-star and a guy that has pretty much for the last 10 years been one of the best hitters … in baseball," Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said on Thursday.

Atkins said Bautista's season-long struggles of 2016, when he displayed inefficiencies in the outfield and batted just .234 in 116 regular-season games, had more to do with the player's ill health than anything else.

"It's a good day for the Toronto Blue Jays," Atkins said. "I think any time you add a player of his calibre to this organization and baseball it's a good day. It's especially a good day for the Toronto Blue Jays for what Jose has meant to this organization and the impact he's had on us winning."

Atkins was commenting publicly for the first time after Bautista and the Jays reached a deal that will bring the right fielder back into the fold – at least for one more season. The American League club said on Wednesday that it had signed the free agent to a one-year guaranteed pact that had a base salary of $18-million (U.S.). The deal also included a $17-million "mutual option" for 2018 and a $20-million vesting option for 2019, which would be triggered should Bautista play a certain number of games through the first two years of the deal.

Should either side decline the 2018 option, Bautista will receive a $500,000 buyout in addition to his $18-million base salary.

Atkins confirmed that Bautista will also receive additional bonuses based on attendance figures at Rogers Centre, which was already bulging at the seams last year when close to 3.4 million patrons poured through the turnstiles for 81 regular-season games.

It had been reported that Bautista would receive $150,000 if the Blue Jays' home game attendance crack 3.5 million and could top out at $900,000 if the attendance tops four million.

Atkins said Bautista's deal is actually sweeter than that, that the player would stand to make roughly $1.5-million in bonuses if attendance shoots through the domed roof.

Over all, the deal, both in respect to term and value, was a far cry from the non-negotiable, five-year, $150-million contract extension Bautista reportedly sought before the start of this past season.

It was a demand that the club would never meet and one Bautista has always denied.

Regardless, after a sub-par season that was obviously affected by two stints on the disabled list, Bautista's hopes of landing a lucrative long-term deal never materialized.

One of the most popular Blue Jays in history, who has led the major leagues in home runs since the 2010 season with 249, Bautista eventually decided his best option was to return to the team where he became a star.

The Blue Jays were already facing intense public pressure after losing free-agent slugger Edwin Encarnacion to the Cleveland Indians on a three-year, $60-million deal.

In an off-season in which a few big names remain unsigned, Atkins said it is an "unusual" time for proved sluggers to snag rich deals.

"But what I would say in addition to that is Jose at [36] years old had one of his worst years in eight years and that's a tough thing for a free agent of that age," Atkins said. "So it could have had some impact on the market. But there are a lot of variables that go into it.

"It's not just the individual player. It's the needs, it's payrolls, it's desires to win. And there are also people involved. It's a very difficult thing to answer."

Atkins said that Bautista – who has yet to comment publicly on his new contract – wanted to return to the city he has played in, and established his reputation in, since 2008.

And he said Bautista probably forfeited a more lucrative deal elsewhere to do so.

"He really wanted to be here," Atkins said. "I don't know exactly what deals he turned down, I don't know exactly how much money he walked away from. But I would guess that he did."

Although Bautista displayed signs last season that his defensive skills in the outfield were waning, Atkins said the team isn't worried.

"We're excited about Jose as a right fielder," Atkins said.

"We're also excited about the teammate that he is and the person that he is and his willingness to play multiple positions as he did last year. He played a little bit of first base and he's extremely open-minded about that.

"I think most likely we'll see him in right field the bulk of games."

With spring training set to begin in a couple of weeks, Atkins said there is still a need to add to the bullpen and find a backup catcher to Russell Martin.

But he is optimistic that the Blue Jays are in a good position to make a third consecutive run for the postseason.

"We've got work to do and we had some great stories last year," he said.

"And Joe Biagini and Aaron Sanchez are two guys who come to mind. And what Russell Martin meant to our pitching staff and the leadership of Tulo [Troy Tulowitzki] and J.D. [Josh Donaldson] and obviously the years that they had.

"It's not just that we check that box, we are going to the playoffs. We understand that a lot of things have to happen."

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