The immediate impact of Jose Bautista’s new contract with the Toronto Blue Jays is clear: he’s a proven slugger, experienced outfielder, and team leader added to a roster in need of all three things to compete in the AL East. But the signing has long-term implications as well – for both the slugger and his place in team history.

Bautista’s legacy with the Blue Jays was cemented two October’s ago, with a home run – and bat flip – heard ‘round the country. But with two more years to add to his totals, which should already have reserved his name a spot on the Level of Excellence, Bautista has a chance to enter some very hallowed territory on the team’s all-time lists.

The big one to watch is home runs. Bautista’s 54 dingers in 2010 is the highest single-season total in Jays history, and now the 36-year-old has a chance to take over the all-time team lead. Bautista currently sits second in home runs with 265, 71 behind club leader Carlos Delgado; he would need to average 36 long balls a season over the course of this new two-year deal to take the top spot. There is some optimism he can get there.

  • Since his breakout 2010 season, Bautista has averaged 35.6 homers a season for the Jays.
  • His last fully healthy season, 2015, produced 40 home runs for the slugger.
  • Even in a down 2016, Bautista’s 22 homers projected to be nearly 30 had he been healthy all year and finished with a similar amount of plate appearances he typically gets.

Despite unsuccessfully arguing the point ahead of last season in contract talks, Bautista’s power production shouldn’t drop off too much as he approaches his late 30s (he stretches a lot!), and the only big question will be his health. If Bautista can stay healthy for the duration of his new deal, he’ll make it awfully close.

And with home runs come RBIs. Bautista is currently fifth on the team’s all-time list in plating runners with 701, and while Delgado’s total of 1,058 is probably out of reach, Bautista should manage to climb to No. 2 within the next two years. Second is currently occupied by Vernon Wells with 813; so even two more mediocre years like last year, when Bautista knocked in just 69 runners, should elevate the slugger past Wells.

Look for Bautista to jump to third by the end of this coming season, surpassing Joe Carter (fourth with 736) and George Bell (third with 740).

Other, less notable team milestones in Bautista’s reach include the club lead in walks (currently second with 719, 108 behind Delgado), finishing in the Top 5 in games played (currently ninth with 1,078, 140 away from the Top 5), and getting his 1,000th hit with the team (just 16 away).