TORONTO, ON – OCTOBER 24: Bo Bichette #11 of the Toronto Blue Jays looks on in the third inning during Game One of the 2025 World Series presented by Capital One between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre on Friday, October 24, 2025 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Daniel Shirey/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Toronto Blue Jays seemed to turn their season around when they demonstrated a willingness to pay top dollar to retain their best young talent.
Despite a rough start to the year, the Blue Jays reached Game 7 of the World Series this past season and a turning point was the announcement of a $500 million extension for franchise slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Now, with Guerrero’s long-time running mate Bo Bichette on the open market as a free agent, the team could be looking to hand out yet another expensive new contract.
“Bichette … comes with sentimentality,” Keegan Matheson noted for MLB.com. “Front offices try not to let those feelings creep in, but for fans, this feels like a diet version of the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. conversation from a year ago, fearing that a longtime franchise cornerstone could be on the verge of walking.”
Rather than disappoint fans and lose one of the best infield bats on the market, the Blue Jays could be preparing to match or exceed any contract offer Bichette receives from another club. The team has now been urged by Toronto Star columnist Gregor Chisholm to prioritize that return for Bichette even if they face an exorbitant cost to do so.
“The top priority this offseason should be re-signing Bichette,” Chisholm wrote. “Something in the range of eight years, $200 million sounds more realistic, but I would be matching any offer up to $250 million and then work with what’s left to fill the remaining holes.”
Fans and teammates alike might be hoping to see the Blue Jays do whatever it takes to retain Bichette, but a $250 million contract is no small thing.
Bichette’s bat certainly proved to be within the top tier this past season, but his defense has been a consistent question and it’s unlikely he’ll be able to handle everyday shortstop duties for the duration of a long-term deal. He also suffered a significant knee injury at the end of last season that raises questions about his durability.
A $250 million investment in him could be a challenge alongside the significant guarantee that Guerrero just received. Spotrac projects Bichette’s market value at just $186 million over eight years.
But with sentimentality playing a potential role for the Blue Jays, and with a clear championship window still open for next year, the team might have little choice but to match a contract offer that exceeds that projection if they hope to keep him for the long term.
