It’s been a several years since the Blue Jays have had much to think about with the shortstop position in their lineup. Since Bo Bichette broke all kinds of franchise and MLB records as a rookie in 2019 when he slashed .311/.358/.571 with 11 home runs and 18 doubles in just 46 games, the 26 year old’s name has been written in ink on the lineup card as long as he’s been healthy.

For now that luxury will continue for manager John Schneider, but 2025 is the last season before Bichette is eligible to hit the free agent market, and many believed that the Blue Jays might even shop him this winter. GM Ross Atkins has since thrown cold water on those rumours and assured fans that Bichette will remain in Toronto for the season ahead, but the two time All-Star’s future as a Blue Jay will likely remain a talking point for the foreseeable future.

While I’m sure I’m not alone in hoping that the Florida native eventually signs a new contract to remain with the only MLB team he’s ever known, I’ve also slowly accepted the possibility that this may not come to pass. As I’ve followed the offseason ‘hot stove’, it’s been clear that I’m not alone in this thinking either, as I’ve read several reports speculating about whether Atkins may jump in on the bidding for free agent shortstops such as Willy Adames or Ha-Seong Kim.

To me, signing one of those players would likely coincide with Bichette ending up in another uniform, so I haven’t seriously entertained it just yet, and even less so since Atkins spoke to the media about Bichette a few weeks back. One or both of those free agents could theoretically play another position as well, but I have a hard time seeing that making sense for the majority of the parties involved.

For now, I choose to just accept that we’ll have at least one more year of Bichette on the Blue Jays, at least until something changes, and we’ll cross the unknown bridge when we get there. That doesn’t mean that I can’t see them adding another infielder over the winter, as that’s something I think they should do. Instead, I expect Atkins and his team to focus on third base, or possibly second. They have a plethora of in-house options including Ernie Clement, Will Wagner, Davis Schneider, Addison Barger, Spencer Horwitz, and Leo Jimenez, but I don’t think this is a team that can afford to enter the 2025 campaign with the status quo.

Whether or not the Blue Jays can extend Bichette’s contract beyond next season will obviously determine a lot about the shortstop position in Toronto, but I can’t help but wonder how far down the road the front office is already thinking about the big picture. The biggest reason I say that is because of the presence of their fifth ranked prospect, Arjun Nimmala.

The 19 year old was impressive in his first season with the Dunedin Blue Jays, the single-A affiliate for the big league club. He appeared in 82 games and slashed .232/.313/.477 with 16 home runs, 18 doubles, and 46 RBI over 319 at-bats, also adding nine stolen bases for good measure. He’s still very raw at this stage of his career, striking out 113 times in that short span, but we also have to remember that he was competing against fellow prospects that were almost three years older than him on average. Having just turned 19 last month, Nimmala spent the 2024 season as an 18 year old, a year after being drafted in the first round (20th overall) at just 17.

While Nimmala won’t figure into the Blue Jays’ immediate plans, it’s at least plausible that his presence factors into the front office’s thinking in their long-term planning. It’s generally foolish to bank on the future of a 19 year old and assume anything, even with talented first round picks, but the early returns are looking very solid on the first, first-generation Indian-American drafted in the first round of a major sport in the United States.

The reason I’m thinking about this at all is because I wonder about what happens if Bichette ends up in another jersey either this season or next and what that looks like for the Blue Jays. Signing a free agent like Adames or Kim would almost surely require a long-term deal, and my guess is a stopgap option would be much preferred for a variety of reasons. Leo Jiménez could be the answer to this question, and maybe that makes all kinds of sense in a year from now. As of today though, I can’t imagine a team with this kind of urgency to win handing the keys to a young Jiménez even with his plus defence in mind.

For what it’s worth, I don’t think planning for a future with Nimmala would prevent the Blue Jays from signing Bo Bichette to a long-term contract. According to MLB.com, Nimmala’s MLB ETA isn’t until 2027, so we’re at least a couple years away from any potential overlap between the two players. A lot could happen between now and then with his development, as there’s no guarantee that he ever reaches the big leagues and pushes a player like Bichette, or that his body won’t change and mature as he leaves his teenage years behind, which could necessitate a position change. According to MLB.com’s profile of him, “The Blue Jays like his athleticism to stay at shortshop for now, but third base could enter the picture down the road”. Who knows, by the time Nimmala is ready to make the jump to the big leagues, Bichette might even be more open to moving off of shortstop as he approaches 30, especially if he theoretically has a long-term contract in his pocket by then.

As much fun as it is to try and predict the future, as it is with most things in life, we won’t know until we do. As I’ve said above, I’m personally rooting for a Bichette extension at some point, and even more importantly, a bounce-back season for the young six-year veteran. Failing that, at some point sooner than later we’ll be talking about the shortstop position for the Blue Jays again, something we haven’t had to do for a long time.