Bautista blossomed into a six-time All-Star selection and one of the most fearsome sluggers in baseball shortly after arriving in Toronto back in 2008. He wound up spending a decade with the Blue Jays through the 2017 season, becoming one of the most iconic figures in franchise history. He retires with one of the most iconic bat flip moments in baseball history during the 2015 postseason and finishes with 344 career home runs over 15 seasons in the majors.

Bautista hammered a breaking ball into shallow left field with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the Dominican Republic to a dramatic walk-off victory. With the loss, Israel has been eliminated from the Olympic tournament. The Dominican Republic squad will face off against the United States on Wednesday evening with a trip to the Olympic semifinals on the line. Every baseball game at the Tokyo Olympics can be streamed LIVE on NBCOlympics.com and on the NBC Sports App.

Bautista worked out as a pitcher over the winter, but that was mostly as a throwing partner for friend Marcus Stroman. "I’ve never stated that it was my plan or desire to make it to the big leagues as a big league pitcher," Bautista said. "I’m a hitter. … I would entertain an opportunity to get back to the big leagues as a hitter. … If somebody calls me and says, ’Hey, you want to be a two-way guy?’ I’d be a fool to say no. That’s kind of the way I look at it." The 39-year-old did not play baseball at any professional level in 2019, but he could probably get a shot somewhere in 2020 if rosters are expanded and a universal DH is implemented to account for a creatively-shortened schedule.

If anything, it's an interesting idea to keep his career alive. Bautista, 39, didn't play at all in 2019 and batted .203/.348/.378 with 13 homers over 399 plate appearances during his last stint in the majors in 2018 between the Braves, Mets, and Phillies. It's unclear if any teams have interest in him as a two-way player, but he was unable to snag a spring training invite. Passan notes that Bautista will play first base in the upcoming Olympic qualifiers for the Dominican Republic, so he'll at least get a chance to showcase himself there.