The Jays have one cornerstone in place long-term, having finalized their 14-year deal with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and general manager Ross Atkins said in the wake of that deal’s announcement that his club is still hopeful of signing Guerrero’s longtime teammate, shortstop Bo Bichette, to a long-term deal as well (via Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae).
“The interest is definitely there,” said Atkins. “…It’s also our vision for [Guerrero and Bichette] to continue to play together. We will do everything in our power to see if we can line up.”
Bichette has voiced a desire to remain in Toronto long-term. He said last year that his “ultimate goal” in his baseball career is “to play with Vladdy forever, to win a championship with him and to do that with this organization.” Bichette acknowledged just a few days ago that there were currently no extension efforts in the works, but those comments came before Guerrero’s deal had been formally announced and mere hours after an agreement had reportedly been reached.
It stands to reason that the Jays’ primary focus has been on keeping Guerrero, who finished sixth in AL MVP voting last year on the heels of a fourth straight All-Star campaign. Both Guerrero and Bichette were set to become free agents following the 2025 season. With Guerrero standing as the focal point of the team’s long-term direction, the Jays may not have wanted to commit one way or another regarding Bichette until their first baseman’s status had been resolved.
Bichette, of course, is difficult to value at the moment. The 27-year-old is a two-time All-Star who’s garnered down-ballot MVP votes in three seasons and looked like an organizational pillar alongside Guerrero for much of his early career. From the time of his 2019 debut as a 21-year-old through the conclusion of the 2023 season, Bichette posted a collective .299/.340/.487 batting line — 26% better than league-average by measure of wRC+.
The 2024 season threw his outlook into disarray. Bichette floundered through the season’s first several months, posting an anemic .237/.286/.342 batting line before landing on the injured list due to a calf strain. He returned after a minimal stint but was back on the shelf with a strain in that same calf just three weeks later.
Bichette may not have been full strength at any point between the two calf strains, as his offense in the interim was even worse than it was prior to his original IL placement (.143/.218/.204 in 55 plate appearances). This time, Bichette missed two months of action, returned to go 2-for-5 in his first game back … and promptly suffered a broken finger during pregame fielding drills. That injury required surgery, ending his season with a career-worst .225/.277/.322 batting line.
Bichette’s name floated around the rumor mill both in the run-up to the trade deadline and again in the offseason, but Atkins was vocal about his unwillingness to discuss a deal. The GM stated in June that trading either Guerrero or Bichette “doesn’t make any sense for us,” and within days of the offseason commencing Atkins repeated that the concept of trading Bichette was “an easy no” for the Blue Jays.
That thinking surely hasn’t changed after Bichette enjoyed a monster spring training (.373/.411/.667, four homers in 56 plate appearances) and has started out with a strong .291/.344/.364 performance in the regular season. He’s yet to homer, but Bichette is making plenty of hard contact (90.6 mph average exit velocity, 48% hard-hit rate) and elevating the ball at even higher levels than he his in his career to date. If he keeps doing so, the big flies are sure to follow.
A big surge early in the season would presumably make a deal easier to strike. On the heels of last year’s disastrous results, the team may have had questions about whether 2024 was an anomaly or the beginning of a worrying trend. Bichette himself would presumably have been reluctant to sell himself short, considering his lengthy track record and proximity to free agency. If Bichette continues to look like himself and make last year appear to be an outlier, it’ll raise his price tag but also give the Jays more certainty that they’re making a sound investment.
Bichette doesn’t carry the earning power Guerrero did on the back of a colossal 2024 showing, but he’d be in line for a strong nine-figure deal as a free agent if he can get back to his 2020-23 form. He’ll hit the market ahead of his age-28 season, making him one of the youngest and highest-upside plays on the 2025-26 free agent market.
From a payroll vantage point, the Jays should have room to extend Bichette even after signing Guerrero. Toronto will see Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Chad Green reach free agency at season’s end. RosterResource pegs them with about $186MM committed to next year’s books — a stark decline of about $64.5MM over their 2024 payroll. That doesn’t include arbitration raises, but Daulton Varsho is the only Blue Jay in line to command a notable salary in 2026. He’ll earn a raise over this year’s $8.2MM mark.
I suspect that Bichette might be inclined to re-establish himself somewhere else after this season, but if I were a Jays fan I feel like I’d want them to try and extend Bichette and Varsho and build a team around them + Vlad.
Why re establish if jays are willing to pay ? Take the money if it’s offered. He’d be crazy not too. He’s not likely to return to mvp form
He only turned 27 a month ago and has $33.6M in career earnings. If he flops again this season, Bichette can sign a two-year deal with an opt-out and be a free agent again before age 30.
Bo is going to follow in his Dad’s footsteps and sign with the Rockies.
I don’t understand spending over $1 billion to double down on a roster that won’t even win the division.
Varsho is easily one of the best outfielders in baseball.
According to last years numbers the best defender period, outfield or not.
Varsho is one 0f the best (or the best) at outfield defense.
He’s not a great outfielder overall since his offense is tepid at best.
@canuck
he does have a good amount of pop though, hitting more than 15 homers in each of his last three seasons.
He also has a batting average of .220 or less in the last two year, and more importantly, an OPS+/WRC+ of 84/85 and 96/99 in the last two years.
If he could get above 15% better then average at the plate, he’d be great, but for the time being, he’s a discount Kiermaier (which isn’t bad but also not great)
@Canuck
Yeah I know his offense isn’t that great (I’m a jays fan)
I don’t think his offense will jump at all, I think he will stay around what he has now (sadly) but I do hope he ends up being at least slightly above average offensively
The frustration is that he was an above average hitter while with Arizona and had 27 homers his last season there. The expectation was that he was going to take a step forward and instead has gone a step back.
He has a 30 homer season in him, he just needs to make a little more contact.
He gone.
Don’t underestimate financial might of rogers…. they can do it
The only way I see Bo in Toronto long term, is if he has another poor, injury riddled season, which keeps the price low.
I know Rogers corp can afford Bo, but after massively overpaying Vlad, I just don’t see it.
I think Toronto is following the Anaheim baseball model(Mike$ $Trout + nobody else)of team building. I honestly think Toronto is settling in for yet another long stretch of mediocrity.
They just signed Santander, close to a 100 mil, took on a 100mil contract in Andres, signed Hoffman. Is it maybe you only know two players on the team?
@mlb
What??? the jays missed the postseason for the first time since 2021, and arguably they should have made the postseason in 21. They are nowhere close to being as bad as the angels.
And…nobody else? the jays have a great farm system, not to mention we have great players on the team already.
The Jays don’t have a great farm system, I think it’s getting better but great is not an adjective for it.
“The Jays missed the postseason”..
Weren’t the Jays eliminated by a very soft hitting Seattle team in more recent post seasons?
Under the new playoff format, teams like the Marlins and Reds have also “made the postseason” in recent years.
Unless you can advance deep into the postseason or can make the postseason 4+ seasons in a row, I don’t give much weight to simply “making” a random postseason appearance here and there.
Heck, even the Seattle Mariners have done that haven’t they?
They have more depth in the farm than you think I will take you to bat on that
The Angels struggles are not because they have no money to spend after Trout. They spend plenty of money on players not named Trout, but they have spent it very poorly due to having a foolish owner.
The Jays will likewise still have plenty of money to spend beyond Vladdy. They simply need to spend it better then Arte (which isn’t that hard to do)
The more than likely, ultimate cruel irony is that Bo Bichette will probably hold up better physically over the same number of years and just plain stay healthy more of the time, be more of an asset to a team- and the Jays are effectively gonna ask him to take a discount, compared to Vladdy, Jr.
They’ll argue that Vladdy, Jr. took a discount of like $5-10M per season to stay on and that they’re hoping Bichette does the same, and with a lower ceiling for Bichette’s salary demands… $32.5M per season becomes $25M per season, etc….
14 years/$350M w/ a $175M signing bonus?
I think it’s way closer to dansby Swanson money. 8 years 200 mil. Idk how he gets more than that on open market. He’s been in a clear decline. His power and speed are both down again this season
@big
Bo is a way better player than Swanson is.
he’s getting at least 250.
Bo’s below average defense and cratered bat doesn’t make him “a way better player than Swanson”—especially not over the last season and a half.
I’m giving Bo a mulligan for last year, but I think Bo and Dansby are 4 WAR players.
Bo has to prove it though in 2025 and he does have the advantage of being a year younger than Dansby heading into free agency.
@nash
dansby and bo have only a 7 point WAR difference, despite Swanson playing almost 500 more games than bichette, not to mention bo has only one season below a 100 OPS, which was caused by his injuries.
No defense of his sub par defense? He’s not going to stick at SS much longer. Easier to hide his defense at 2B, hope his bat comes back, and that he can overcome the recurring calf injuries.
Atkins is just being told what to do, I don’t believe Atkins or Shapiro completely believed in Guerrero, but they couldn’t lure any other big names to Toronto, so, Rogers said we need to sign some stars, they have 2 homegrown ones, one who has clearly stated he wanted to stay, even though it took 14×35. Once Guerrero signed, I’m sure that changes other guys outlooks. Rogers has been investing billions in sports content for their sports platforms, this was an ownership decision all the way. they were likely told to get it done.
They’ll have to give him and all future players of note the signing bonus treatment.
He deserves no more than what Willy Adames got from the Giants.
@sk8
what makes you say that?
I’d take Adames given the choice.
Shatkins is the worst. They locked up their superstar and want to sign their 2nd best batter long term as well. They did a great job renovating Dunedin to a modern and top level spring training facility and they’ve done probably a better job with the skydome turning a cement beehive into a place with nice amenities, better seating and overall better esthetic to play and watch a baseball game in. Geez, and they’re leading the AL East. I hate these guys!
Why not extend everyone on the team? They’re first in the AL East and 3rd best record in the AL.
They would be better off just letting him hit FA and giving him a QO. If he accepts then take him on the one year deal and he’ll be highly motivated to put up big numbers. If another team wants to break the bank then let him leave and take the pick.
If they do extend him they need to deal with the fact he is not a good SS. That problem will become more acute as he ages.
He doesn’t have the arm for 3B so 2B would be the best fit.
If he doesn’t want to move, then don’t resign him.
The overlooked efficiency play: If the Jays can sign Bo Bichette now at a $25M average annual value, they could capture roughly $15M/year in surplus value — assuming he returns to his 4+ WAR form and the going rate of $40M per 4 WAR on the open market. His 2024 calf and finger injuries may have temporarily lowered his asking price, presenting an opportunity. While Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s massive 14-year extension likely commands ~$35M/year, Toronto still has around $64.5M in payroll coming off the books after 2024 — providing space to make another significant commitment.
In terms of contract efficiency, Bichette’s potential deal could slightly outperform Guerrero’s: 1.6 WAR per $10M (Bichette) vs. 1.4 WAR per $10M (Guerrero), depending on actual output. That kind of value gain might not make headlines, but it could quietly flip a couple of the team’s 19 one-run losses in 2024 — without requiring a roster overhaul. Rather than just focusing on the headline moves, this could be the kind of calculated play that extends Toronto’s competitive window with precision.
Wait and see if any of his power comes back. If not his value will be even lower. I doubt the Jays want to risk it before knowing if last year was a fluke.