We need to talk about the elephant in the room.
For two years, all the talk around the Toronto Blue Jays was of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s contract and whether he would sign or not. You may not know, but the contract of Bo Bichette, a close friend of Vlad’s since coming through the minor leagues together, was also running down at the same time. Why didn’t anyone mention this?
Born in Orlando, Florida, and the son of Dante Bichette, a distinguished major league outfielder himself with a career OPS+ of 107, Bo grew up in and around the game.
The younger Bichette was drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the second round of the MLB amateur draft in 2016. Within three years, he was making his Major League debut as a shortstop. In that first year, Bo made 212 plate appearances, with a batting average of .311 and an OPS+ of 144. Not bad for a debut season.
He has continued to perform above average in every season since then, except for 2024 – when injuries hampered his performance – resulting in only 336 plate appearances.
In the field, Bo has never been renowned for his ability at shortstop, but it would be harsh to say he’s bad. He’s certainly improved his fielding stats, and most teams would be happy with him on their roster. The league average for fielding percentage as a shortstop is .973, with Bo having been above that twice. Those years came recently too, in 2023 and this current season. Let’s not forget that last season was injury-hit, and his fielding percentage (.971) was still only slightly below the league’s average (.972) that year.
If there were an opposite of Vlad, it would be Bo. A thoughtful and softly-spoken individual, he is known for his intensity and desire to excel, often without the big fanfare, when interviewed. That’s not a slight on Vlad; Bo is simply different.
An improving shortstop with a career OPS+ of 117, dedicated to being the best he can be and a model professional. Why haven’t the Bluejays gone out of their way to sign Bo too?
For a start, we don’t know they haven’t. There have been numerous rumours circulating that they attempted to sign him earlier this season, but there has been no official word from management and no concrete confirmation that they are trying to sign him.
Mark Shapiro, the Blue Jays president, said of Bichette recently;
“[He’s] The player I’m most excited to watch. I look at him, his maturation, his trajectory, he has the determination. When he’s at his best, he is a winning player that can help us win”.
Shapiro didn’t comment on potential extension talks though.
So why not try and sign him along with Vlad? There could be several reasons;
- Bichette isn’t viewed as the long-term solution at shortstop.
- Did the injury last year worry the management? He doesn’t have a history of injuries; last year was an anomaly.
- The Blue Jays are financially restricted
- Bo doesn’t want to sign an extension with the Blue Jays
It could be any number of these reasons, and there are parallels with the way Vladdy’s contract talks progressed; just earlier this year, Bo said that “Vladdy is one of my best friends” and “We’ve talked about playing together forever since he was 18 and I was 19”.
From that quote, you could deduce that he wishes to sign and play with Vladdy for the rest of his career. Whether the Blue Jays want that too though remains to be seen.
I believe the front office thinks they can find a better shortstop for the long term, and probably already have him – Andrés Giménez was signed from the Cleveland Guardians in the offseason on a seven-year, $106.5million contract. Currently playing as a second baseman, he can also play shortstop, having played the position for Cleveland and the New York Mets in previous years. His batting is average, but, as a fielder, he is exceptional with a fielding percentage this year of .992. The league average is .982.
The Blue Jays, in recent years, have been very much focused on run prevention, and with shortstop being one of the most important positions defensively in baseball, you can understand that Bo may not fit the front office’s vision.
I can envisage a Blue Jays team with and without Bo, and both can compete in the playoffs. If he signs, he could be their shortstop for the next 14 years and play alongside his best mate, Vlad. This would please the fans. If his fielding stats improve and his batting remains steady, then those are two positions the front office need not worry about. If he leave though, they have Giménez to fill in, but they would need to add a bat to the lineup.
The way I see it playing out is that Bichette will wait for free agency to see what he can get, and this is the reason there is very little noise about potential extensions.
It’s difficult to guess just what the front office is thinking. They did eventually sign Vlad, so there is still an opportunity for Bo to sign before free agency. However, the longer it goes on, the less likely that will be.
If I had to guess, I don’t think Bo will be a Bluejay in 2026.
Ian Flux Oliveres is a Toronto Blue Jays fan. Want to share your baseball opinions with Bat Flips & Nerds’ audience of 10,000+? Click on the “Write for us” link above.
Featured image – Chris Young/CP
