The Toronto Blue Jays are on an upward trajectory.
Having worked out a $500 million extension with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in April, the Blue Jays went from a team everyone thought was on the brink of a tear down to a first-place squad with a relatively stable future. The pitching staff will need reinforcements soon, but most of the lineup is locked into place.
However, shortstop Bo Bichette is the clear exception, as the 27-year-old is headed to free agency this winter with his future in Toronto very much up in the air.
This season, Bichette still hasn’t quite recaptured his two-time All-Star form, but he’s also clearly recovered from his disastrous campaign a year ago. Where does that leave him in terms of contract value, and will that contract come from the Blue Jays?
Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller projected Monday that Bichette would get a six-year, $126 million deal this winter but from the Atlanta Braves, not the Blue Jays.
“If he wants to remain a shortstop, (the) two most logical landing spots are either returning to Toronto or going to Atlanta—both of whom are already on the hook for nearly $200M next season and might need to get creative to make it work,” Miller wrote of Bichette.
“But on the heels of a wildly disappointing season, Atlanta figures to be most motivated to find a way. The Braves have an excellent glove in Nick Allen, but they have a .538 OPS at shortstop for the year, yet to produce so much as a single home run.”
Bichette went without a home run until mid-May this year, but he’s since rattled off 13. He’s also raised his own OPS to .794 with a hot month of July (125 OPS+), and he’s up to 2.5 bWAR on the season.
It’s hard to know how to value that production, because as Miller hints, Bichette’s diminishing range at shortstop certainly suggests he could be a candidate for a move to third base.
But Toronto, which has Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez as candidates to take over short, might not be inclined to challenge Atlanta in a potential bidding war.
