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Should the Blue Jays re-sign Bo Bichette?
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Photo credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images
Trevor Fitzpatrick
Nov 4, 2025, 19:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 4, 2025, 17:17 EST
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The 2025 World Series saw the Toronto Blue Jays slugger Bo Bichette return to play from his knee injury with a vengeance. He hit to the tune of a .348 average through the seven games, including his monstrous three-run home run in Game 7.
Now, the Blue Jays face a crossroads this offseason. Do they re-sign their two-time MLB hits leader (2021, 2022) for what is bound to be a massive contract? Or do they let him walk, potentially to a contender?
Bichette has stated before that he wants to stay in Toronto, but, as with every free agent, there’s a case to be made for both sides of the argument. Here are some ideas that the Jays will have to consider as Bichette enters free agency for the first time in his career.

For: One of the league’s premier hitters

As a career .294 hitter and two-time all-star sporting an .806 OPS and 121 OPS+, Bichette is one of MLB’s premier infield hitters. He’s a player who will consistently get on base and make pitchers work with his .337 OBP.
That’s incredibly important when you have a bat like Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s in your lineup. Bichette adds a solid layer of protection for Guerrero, which was shown as recently as Game 7 of the World Series, when Guerrero got intentionally walked and Bichette smacked a three-run home run immediately after.
The 27-year-old shortstop has already proven that he can bounce back from a rough year as well. In 2024, he slumped, posting a -0.3 WAR on a .225 average. Despite his 2025 campaign being shortened by injury, he was back near the top of the league in hits with 181 while hitting above .300.
Signing Bichette to a long-term deal would solidify the heart of the Blue Jays’ hitting corps and allow the team to build around the terrifying duo.

For: Keep that bat away from a contender!

Not only would the Blue Jays lose Bichette’s terrific bat if he were to walk in free agency, but there’s a high chance that he would get scooped up by a direct contender with a big payroll, such as the Dodgers or, even worse, a division rival, such as the New York Yankees.
Needless to say, not only would that be a tough loss for Toronto’s offence, losing him to a competitor could be devastating if the Jays end up in a situation where they have to go through his new team during a playoff push or run.
What could a contract for Bichette look like? Last offseason, Willy Adames earned a seven-year, $182 million deal last year with the San Francisco Giants… Bichette’s bat is great, just like his, so some projections are putting a potential Bichette contract north of $200 million.
The nice thing about baseball for free agents? There’s no salary cap, and the Blue Jays have been willing to spend in recent years (top ten in baseball in 2025).

Against: Poor defence at a valuable position

Part of what will drive Bichette’s value up is that he plays shortstop, one of the most important positions to have great defence. While Bichette has certainly improved over the years on the error front (MLB leading 24 in 2021, only eight in 2023, 12 in 2025), his range and arm leave more to be desired.
In the four seasons that he’s played over 100 games at shortstop, he’s posted a negative DRS in two of them. If you take the league’s fielding average to be around .980-.985, Bichette has only hit that number once, in 2023, falling nine points below or more in every other year.
This World Series appears to have reopened the possibility of him moving to second base more in the future, but it remains to be seen how much that will help or hinder his fielding. As of now, that possible big contract would be going to a net-negative fielder. Does his hitting make up the difference?

Against: Potential for further injuries

Bo Bichette has unfortunately been a little injury-prone over the past few seasons. This year, he hurt his knee in September, taking him out of action from then until the World Series. That was a fluke play at home, so there is some grace, but this isn’t the first time he’s hit the IL for an extended period.
In 2024, he battled a calf injury and then a finger injury that kept him sidelined for half of the season. In fact, he hasn’t played over 150 games in a season since 2022.
It’s hard to predict whether these injuries will continue to happen. Could his injury history affect his free agency? It’s certainly a possibility, but he will almost certainly get his payday from someone.

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