Former Toronto Blue Jays star Jose Bautista is going to sign a one-day contract with the organization before going up on the Level of Excellence on Saturday, per reports.
From Shi Davidi:
Jose Bautista will sign a one-day contract so he can retire as a member of the Blue Jays, club announces. He’s going up on the Level of Excellence tomorrow.
The Level of Excellence is essentially the Blue Jays Hall of Fame.
Per the Blue Jays, other members include: PAUL BEESTON (April 4, 2008), GEORGE BELL (April 9, 1996), JOE CARTER (July 30, 1999), TOM CHEEK (August 29, 2004), CARLOS DELGADO (July 21, 2013), TONY FERNANDEZ (September 23, 2001), CITO GASTON (July 30, 1999), PAT GILLICK (August 7, 2002), ROY HALLADAY (March 29, 2018) and DAVE STIEB (April 9, 1996).
Bautista played 15 years in the big leagues, 10 of which were with the Jays. He hit 288 home runs in his Toronto tenure, including a league-leading 54 in 2010 and a league-leading 43 in 2011. He made the All-Star team six times with the Jays and delivered one of the most iconic moments in team history with bat-flip in the 2015 playoffs.
In addition to the Jays, Bautista did spells with the Orioles, Royals, Pirates, Braves, Mets and Phillies.
The Blue Jays will be taking on the Chicago Cubs over the weekend. First pitch of game one of the series is Friday night at 7:07 p.m. ET as Jose Berrios pitches against Javier Assad.
Berrios is 9-7 while Assad is 1-2.
The Jays have a 1.5 game lead on the Seattle Mariners for the third and final wild card spot in the American League.
More must-reads: