Free agency is looming next year for Bichette, while in the midst of the worst year in his career. What will the Jays do with him?
The Toronto Blue Jays 2024 season has not gone as planned. They are currently last in the AL East with a very different roster than the beginning of the season. At the deadline, the Jays traded away their expiring contracts, vowing to re-tool this year and try to contend next year. Rumors of Toronto selling ultimately led teams to question the availability of stars 1B Vladimir Guerrero Jr and SS Bo Bichette. General Manager Ross Atkins said in early June that trading both stars “doesn’t make any sense”. Since those comments, we have seen Vladdy finally return to his 2021 MVP runner-up form, becoming the starting first baseman for the All-Star team. Bichette’s season, on the other hand, couldn’t be more opposite from his partner across the diamond.
Bichette’s 2024 struggles
In only 80 games played this season, Bo has posted a 69 OPS+ at the plate. In his career, the shortstop had never had an OPS+ below 120. Even more surprisingly, he only hit four homeruns while batting .222 in his limited play. Bichette’s best hitting tool has always been his bat-to-ball skills, posting averages around .300 every season of his career. His weakest skill is drawing walks, as last year he was only able to take 27 in 135 PAs. This season had him drawing 20 walks in far fewer at-bats, but he couldn’t hit his way on base at all.
This is a player that led the league in hits in both 2021 and 2022, but then all of a sudden not being able to buy himself one. Just after the All-Star break, the Blue Jays placed Bichette the Injured List, with the hope being the former All-Star could return before season’s end. Now in mid-September, Bichette just started rehabbing in Triple-A, hoping to get a few major league games in before the season concludes.
Free Agency Looms
Bo Bichette is only under team control for one more season. He is still without a contract extension or any reported talks to prove one is close. Despite the Jays GM stating “It was never our intention to trade either one of them” in reference to Vladdy and Bo at the deadline, the offseason brings different circumstances. Guerrero has always expressed interest in wanting to play in Toronto for the rest of his career. Bichette on the other hand has been quieter, only saying at the deadline he wouldn’t be “surprised at all” if a trade came to fruition. This led many fans to speculate that Bo isn’t interested in being in blue long term, and ultimately doesn’t care where he is next year.
Recently, Bo Bichette spoke about his future with Shi Davidi of Sportsnet, finally expressing interest in playing for Canada’s team in the future. Bichette was quoted saying, “When I had time to think about what I want, basically, my ultimate goal really is to play with Vladdy forever, to win a championship with him and to do that with this organization. I’m 100 percent committed to doing whatever it takes to accomplish those things. That’s where I’m at.”
Vladdy will also be a free agent at the same time as Bichette. It has felt at times like the Blue Jays must choose one or the other, they can’t sign both, but with the Jays reportedly offering Shohei Ohtani $700 million, they definitely have the flexibility to bring both back. Now what will the Toronto Blue Jays do? The options for the team are: Keep Bichette for next year and try to re-sign him in free agency, extend Bo before his team control ends, or trade him in the offseason.
A potential Bo Bichette trade
The two teams that could acquire Bo Bichette are the Los Angeles Dodgers and Cleveland Guardians. These two teams not only have a need for a shortstop, but have two of the top five farm systems in MLB.
Los Angeles Dodgers: LA has had a hole at shortstop for quite a while, opting to play 2B Gavin Lux at the position to start the season, but midway through Spring Training they decided to put OF Mookie Betts there. Betts struggled defensively at the position and wound up getting hurt, leaving SS Miguel Rojas to make the majority of starts there up until now. Miguel has been good in his time starting, but at 35 years old, he isn’t an option long term. Clearly the need is there and with how deep the LA farm system is, currently ranked 5th after the trade deadline, there’s no doubt that a trade between the two teams could happen.
Cleveland Guardians: The Guardians currently have the 4th best farm system and have a winning window for next season. It wouldn’t be a shock to see them add offensively, and the first place to start is shortstop. They have been playing 23-year-old rookie SS Brayan Rocchio at the position for the whole season. While Rocchio has the tools to be a great player, his bat clearly isn’t ready for Major League pitching, only having a .209 BA in 350 ABs. Evan Massey of Sports Illustrated wrote about Cleveland’s trade chances for Bo, and he stated, “Expect to hear a lot of rumors attached to Cleveland. Bichette is likely going to be one of them if Toronto is actually open to moving him for the right price.”
Decisions, Decisions
Bo Bichette and the Toronto Blue Jays are in a weird spot. It’s hard to imagine Bichette signing an extension when his value is the lowest, coming off his worst year. It’s also unlikely that the Jays trade him at his lowest value he’s ever had, while also making it seem like they are planning on competing in 2025 with him as their shortstop. What is most likely going to happen at this point is Bo stays with the team through next season then goes to free agency, where Toronto tries to bring him back. Regardless, it will be exciting to see where Bo Flows could end up, and if Toronto doesn’t trade him, if he will bounce back next year and become an elite shortstop again for a Jays team with one last winning window in the Guererro/Bichette era.
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