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After a heartbreaking end to their season, the Toronto Blue Jays have one enormous question to answer this offseason. Longtime starting shortstop Bo Bichette, a two-time All-Star, became a free agent earlier this week. He missed six weeks with a knee injury, including the first two rounds of the playoffs, but the fact that he hit .348 in the World Series with a three-run home run in Game 7 should erase any doubts about his huge value on the open market. Not only do the Blue Jays have to decide whether to bring Bichette back to Toronto, where he’s repeatedly said he wants to continue playing, but they must decide if he’s still a shortstop or needs a permanent position change. (He played second base coming off his injury in the Fall Classic.) And most importantly of all, they have to decide how much they can afford to pay him. DETROIT, MI – JULY 27: A detailed view of the Franklin batting gloves worn by Nathan Lukes #38 of the Toronto Blue Jays as he waits on-deck to bat prior to the start of the game against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 27, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan. The Tigers defeated the Blue Jays 10-4. (Photo by Mark Cunningham/MLB Photos via Getty Images) One baseball writer attempted to answer that last question on Wednesday, CBS Sports’ Mike Axisa wrote a series of “bold predictions” for the Major League Baseball offseason, and one of those was the Blue Jays re-signing Bichette to an eight-year, $250 million contract. “The Blue Jays just went the World Series and World Series teams tend to re-sign their own free agents at a higher rate than non-World Series teams,” Axisa wrote. “Bichette has also said repeatedly that he wants to stay in Toronto long-term (like Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said before his extension). “So, I will kick off our hot stove bold predictions by predicting Bichette re-signs with the Blue Jays. Let’s call it an eight-year deal in the $250 million range. Also, a sub-bold prediction: Bichette moves to second base next year. He played there in the World Series because a knee injury limited his mobility, though he was a poor defensive shortstop even with a healthy knee. Bichette at second and Andrés Giménez at short is the middle infield of the future in Toronto.” The Blue Jays owe Giménez $84 million over the next four years, so they’d have the most expensive infield ever assembled if they added a quarter-billion-dollar commitment for Bichette to the half-billion they already owe Guerrero. But this largely homegrown Blue Jays core clearly has unfinished business now, and if Bichette gets that sort of offer from the front office, it’s hard to imagine him passing it up. More MLB: Yankees’ Aaron Boone Makes Statement on Anthony Volpe’s Playing Time
