Where Does Bo Bichette Fit into the Blue Jays’ Future Plans?

The Toronto Blue Jays are entering one of the most important offseasons that the franchise has gone through in recent memory. With postseason success eluding the organization since 2016, Blue Jays fans are looking for something that will help this club turn things around after a dismal campaign.

There are a lot of things the Jays need to work on this winter: filling roster holes, trading from the infield logjam, and looking into long-term solutions for this core group of players. Toronto is one organization that has yet to sign any of its homegrown young players to deals past their arbitration years.

The pressure for general manager Ross Atkins to finally get things done, especially with first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., has never been higher.

Joining Guerrero on that extension consideration list is Bo Bichette, who is coming off an injury-filled season that saw him produce career lows across the board.

Through 81 games and 336 plate appearances, Bichette authored a .225/.277/.322 slash line with 16 doubles, four home runs, and 31 RBIs to the tune of a .598 OPS.

It was the first time Bichette had produced a below-average OPS+ (71) and a batting average under .290 – a testament to his ability to put the ball in play in previous campaigns.

He failed to reach the 20+ home run threshold after three consecutive years of meeting that mark, and the shortstop produced a -0.3 bWAR while he struggled to stay in the lineup.

A right calf injury saw Bichette hit the IL multiple times this season, and once he was healthy at the end of the year, the right-handed batter broke a finger in his left hand during infield practice, ending his season.

For a player looking to secure a long-term deal, it was a season to forget. While Bichette’s defensive numbers have fluctuated over time, with many thinking a move to second base may be in his future, the bat has always been a source of consistency – until it wasn’t this season.

Even before he landed on the IL, Bichette was struggling with the bat. He was swinging at pitches way out of the strike zone and genuinely looking uncomfortable at the plate. While he is known to be aggressive, the Blue Jays shortstop was not connecting enough or succeeding on balls in play (.269 BABIP). He produced a .096 ISO, another career low.

Historically, Bichette has been a master of finding ways to put the ball in play, leading the American League in hits in both 2021 and 2022. He has a knack for driving the ball the opposite way with ease and has consistently sat above league average in almost every hitting category one could think of.

Even with his dreadful 2024 season, Bichette still owns a lifetime .290/.332/.466 slash line with a 119 OPS+.

Amidst both Bichette’s and the Blue Jays’ struggles this season came the rumor mill, with news outlets reporting that the former top prospect would welcome a trade. The 26-year-old stoked the flames himself, stating he ‘wouldn’t be surprised’ if the Jays traded him at the deadline.

Bichette did clarify later in the campaign that he is committed to staying and potentially signing an extension with Toronto and winning with Guerrero, but that leads to the bigger question of where things stand between Bichette and the Blue Jays when it comes to a long-term deal.

As it stands, signing an extension with Guerrero seems like it must be a much higher priority for the Blue Jays. Bichette is in the same boat, but he seems more like an afterthought at this point.

Agreeing on a potential length and AAV seems difficult after such a down campaign, but in all likelihood, you have to consider the 2024 campaign to be more of a blip on the radar than a sign of what is to come for Bichette in the future.

Salary-wise, signing both Guerrero and Bichette to long-term deals can be done, but it would take a sizeable chunk out of the money the front office potentially has to play with this winter and over the next few seasons.

For a club that needs to upgrade a few different areas if it truly wants to contend sooner rather than later, there may not be enough room to have both Guerrero and Bichette on the long-term payroll.

That is a debatable topic, considering the team’s salary constraints are not publically known after a rough season north of the border. If Mark Shapiro’s words ring true, the club should have enough spending money for extension talks to be on the table, as long as both sides are willing to play ball.

With Guerrero, Bichette, Chris Bassitt, and Jordan Romano all slated for free agency after the 2025 season, tough decisions are going to need to be made regarding how this roster will look in the long term. While the Blue Jays aren’t in the ‘blow it all up and start over’ stage, there is a chance that Bichette is heading to the open market next winter – if he isn’t traded before then.

On the flip side, there is a plausible scenario where Bichette dons a Blue Jays jersey for the next five-plus years, but a lot of dominoes would need to fall into place for that to happen.

For now, it seems to be a ‘wait and see’ kind of situation when it comes to how the Blue Jays and Bichette will approach long-term discussions. Yet, the longer the two sides draw this out, the likelihood of the core player wearing a different jersey in 2026 grows exponentially.