When Jose Bautista signed a five-year, $65 million extension with the Blue Jays two springs ago, Alex Anthopoulos gave the slugger assurances that the team would eventually load up to become a contender.

Toronto finally did so last week when they signed Melky Cabrera and acquired Jose Reyes, Josh Johnson and Mark Buehrle in a trade with Miami.

"Anytime you are going to set yourself up for a long time to an organization, you’re going to ask what the plans are for the future," Bautista said. "You don’t want to set yourself up to lose, so yeah those comments were made, and the trust was there, and I believed when he told me that he would make this club into a contender.

"He did tell me that it wasn’t going to happen overnight but when the time was right and the pieces were in place, I am going to attempt to make those moves obviously while seeking permission from ownership. It happened, that’s all I can say."