The Blue Jays Haven’t Discussed an Extension With Bo Bichette

Bo Bichette is the kind of player you build around. A fierce competitor with a career 119 wRC+ and adequate defense at shortstop, Bichette will turn 27 just before the season starts, meaning he’s in his prime. He’s an All-Star, and until his disastrous 2024 campaign, he’d received MVP votes in three straight seasons. I don’t know what to expect from Bichette in 2025. I don’t think anyone does. We should definitely expect him to bounce back to some degree; it’s hard to imagine a universe where the 71 wRC+ he put up during his injury-shortened 2024 reflects his true talent level. However, the season also contained some real reasons for concern, and we probably shouldn’t just expect him to return to the player he was before. When you don’t know what to expect from a player, it makes it awfully hard to figure out what kind of contract to offer him.

Bichette actually ran a higher average bat speed in 2024 than he did in 2023. In fact, 13 of his 17 fastest tracked swings came in 2024. So, while the calf injury that kept him out for half the season surely slowed him down to some degree, it didn’t seem to be keeping him from getting his A-swing off. Bichette’s hard-hit rate wasn’t a career-low, but advanced metrics like 90th percentile exit velocity showed that his top-end power took a major step back. Moreover, when he did hit the ball hard, he didn’t optimize that contact. In 2024, Bichette pulled just five fly balls, or 2% of his balls in play. He’s always been the type to spray line drives around the field, but that was by far the lowest mark of his career. That’s something he’ll need to fix going forward, and the good news is that new hitting coach David Popkins joins the Blue Jays after years with the Twins, who have had an intense, years’-long focus on pulling the ball in the air. He just might be exactly what Bichette needs right now.

With all of this uncertainty as Bichette goes into his contract year, it seems like this would be a good time to have an open dialogue. It would make sense for the Blue Jays to find out what Bichette is thinking. Maybe he’s willing to trade on the five years of excellent performance he already has in the bank, and he’s looking for a long-term deal. Maybe he’d prefer some security right now. Maybe he wants the chance to bounce back go into free agency on a positive note. Either way, the news that the Blue Jays haven’t discussed an extension with Bichette at all isn’t particularly encouraging.

Bichette has said all the right things and made it clear that he understands the bigger picture, telling Hazel Mae, “Obviously, Vladdy is the priority at this point,” on Sunday. Ross Atkins has understandably been cagey with the press regarding his interactions with both Guerrero and Bichette, fearful of making an unforced error in a public statement. The Blue Jays spent the offseason chasing big free agents, and while they didn’t land everyone they had their eye on, they did succeed in improving the team. After that, the focus was on Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but now that his spring training deadline has passed, it should be time to focus on Bichette. Even if no deal gets done, this is the time to build bridges and to stress to Bichette that the team sees him as a Blue Jay over the long haul.