Maybe the Toronto Blue Jays are studying from their free company failures.
After shedding out on huge names like outfielder Juan Soto, designated hitter Shohei Ohtani, right-hander Roki Sasaki and different marquee gamers all through the years, Toronto stayed in-house for his or her most up-to-date main signing: A 14-year, $500M extension for All-Star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Locking in Guerrero Jr. long run was an vital transfer for the Blue Jays, a membership whose farm system does not look poised to ship upper-echelon expertise anytime quickly. On the very least, then, they will attempt to construct up a core on the huge league degree.
So may Toronto look to increase fellow homegrown star Bo Bichette? Or maybe extra importantly, ought to they?
The 27-year-old Bichette, the son of former MLB outfielder Dante Bichette who was promoted to the majors alongside Guerrero Jr. in 2019, is a two-time All-Star coming off a misplaced 2024 marketing campaign by which he slashed simply .225/.277/.322 over 311 at-bats and 81 video games performed, lacking half the season because of straining the identical calf twice.
He is off to a greater begin in 2025, slashing .288/.348/.704 over his first 59 at-bats, although he has but to hit a house run on the younger season. Due to this fact, it is unclear whether or not Bichette’s worth has rebounded up to now.
Regardless, the Blue Jays made it clear that they’ve little interest in rebuilding, as evidenced by their varied offseason pursuits, extending Guerrero Jr., and even going so far as saying buying and selling Bichette was an “easy no” final November.
For what it is value, the sensation on each side seems to be mutual, because the 27-year-old shortstop has expressed a desire in the past to remain with the Blue Jays long term. Nonetheless, that solely means a lot in negotiations.
Finally, the Blue Jays have had difficulties selling and sustaining homegrown gamers within the years since Bichette and Guerrero Jr. debuted collectively. Due to this fact, holding the 2 All-Stars collectively is likely to be Toronto’s quickest path again to relevancy.
In spite of everything, cash does not appear to be the difficulty north of the border.
