Blue Jays still looking to extend Bo Bichette

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, 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.

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.