Jose Bautista's Good Eye Could Lead to Franchise Record in 2017

Toronto Blue Jays right fielder Jose Bautista enters 2017 needing just 109 walks to pass Carlos Delgado's franchise record of 827, per MLB.com.

Bautista entered the offseason a pending free agent along with Edwin Encarnacion, but he re-signed with the club on a one-year deal for 2017 that includes two mutual options in 2018 and 2019. The 36-year-old slugger was seeking a long-term deal in free agency, but the market didn't produce any teams willing to do so.

It's not a huge surprise nobody was willing to offer up an extended deal considering he missed a significant chunk of 2016 due to injury and didn't play that well when healthy. Bautista played a total of 116 games last year, producing at just a .234 clip with only 22 home runs—his fewest since 2008.

With Encarnacion out of town, the Blue Jays won't sport as much punch in the middle of their batting order as they have in seasons past. He hit exclusively third or fourth in the batting order for the club last season, with Bautista occupying anywhere from first to fourth.

This year's batting order is shaping up to potentially have second baseman Devon Travis in the leadoff spot, with Josh Donaldson second, Bautista third and offseason addition Kendrys Morales hitting in the cleanup spot, per the Toronto Sun.

A six-time All-Star, Bautista enters his 14th MLB campaign with a decent .255/.368/.493 batting line, but he owns 308 career home runs and has led the league twice in that category. While power remains a large part of his game at the plate, patience also plays in his hand.

When Bautista wasn't making contact at an extremely high rate in 2016, his eye at the plate allowed him to reach base at a significantly higher rate. He finished 2016 with 87 walks in the 116 contests, posting a solid .366 on-base percentage. Two years ago he walked a league-high 110 times, setting a precedent for the possibility of him achieving the feat again in 2017 to sit atop the franchise leaderboard.