Blue Jays: Why it’s ridiculous that Dante Bichette just had to resign

On Wednesday we learned that Dante Bichette had resigned from his position with the Blue Jays, and the reason why he had to make that decision is a little ridiculous.

Speaking with Sportsnet’s Jeff Blair and Kevin Barker on Wednesday, Bichette quietly announced that his father had left his gig with the Jays so he could continue to work with his son during the lockout. Yeah, you heard that right.

If that sounds strange to you, allow me to offer a very quick explanation. Because players have been “locked out” by MLB owners, they’re not allowed to work with their coaches, speak to front office representatives, or use any team facilities. There really isn’t a lot of grey area with this sort of thing, however, the situation for Dante and Bo Bichette is pretty unique.

With Dante relieving himself of any contractual obligations he has to the Blue Jays, he no longer has to worry about working with his son and being at risk of breaking the rules. Instead he can help him to stay ready for whenever the MLB season gets underway. The league and the player’s association continue to negotiate, but it’s looking like a near certainty that there will be a delayed start to the regular season, unless something significant develops in the next week or so.

I can appreciate why the rules are in place for a lockout situation, and I respect that the Bichette’s were willing to do whatever it takes to make sure they’re above board. That said, I can’t help but scoff at the ridiculousness of this situation. Of course Bo is going to speak with his father at some point, and they’re not supposed to talk about baseball? Technically that would be a violation, and that’s just absurd.

The good news is they’re made it a moot issue with the way they’re approaching the situation, and I can certainly appreciate that. I can only assume that Dante’s job with the Blue Jays was never about money, and I’m sure young Bo can compensate him just fine if they choose to work out a financial agreement of some sort. The All-Star shortstop had some pretty light-hearted words for Blair and Barker:

"“Yeah, the father-son relationship comes first so my dad resigned from that job to be able to work with me and not have that affect anything, so we’ll see happens in the future. But yeah, for right now. He’s taken. You know, he wants to be with me as my teammate.”"

What does this mean for Dante’s future working with the Blue Jays? It’s hard to say, but he might need to take at least a short break so there are no complications. Again, that seems unnecessary to me, but whatever.

On the bright side, it sounds like the 2021 All-Star is doing what he needs to in order to stay prepared, and I have no doubt that he’ll continue to reap the benefits of working with his Dad into the 2022 season, even if the rest of the team isn’t technically allowed to do the same.

At the end of the day, this is just one of those silly things that can happen in professional sports.