Blue Jays insider notably excludes one player after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extension

The Toronto Blue Jays inking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year, $500 million extension has Blue Jays fans dreaming of what the future could hold for the franchise.

While there's still plenty of focus and attention on the Jays having a successful 2025 season, Guerrero's extension has allowed fans (and in some ways, the front office) to truly think about what the future of the franchise looks like.

And that thinking leads to a simple question: What does the future core of the Blue Jays look like?

According to one Blue Jays insider, it's a core that doesn't include Bo Bichette.

Blue Jays insider notably excludes one player after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extension

Minutes after news leaked of Guerrero inking an extension with the Blue Jays Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith put out a tweet breaking down how the extension helps the Blue Jays commit to a direction and build around their core.

And there was one notable omission in the core that Nicholson-Smith mentioned who happens to currently be playing shortstop for the team.

While Guerrero's extension talks sucked up a lot of the oxygen around the Blue Jays, Bichette's also an impending free agent — and seems ticketed to open the 2026 season on a different team.

There was already some reporting during the offseason that Bichette had "no real interest" in returning to Toronto after 2025, and it seems like Guerrero signing an extension hasn't changed anything.

Bichette was one of the best shortstops in baseball from 2021-'23 (he led all of baseball in hits in 2021 and '22), but he struggled last year in the 81 games he played as he worked through injuries.

He's off to an okay start this season (.286 average, four RBI), so it remains to be seen how much he'll get in free agency. In a story for The Athletic last month (subscription required), former MLB general manager Jim Bowden predicated that Bichette would sign a five-year, $147 million contract with the Yankees, where he'd play third base.

That contract projection seems like a fair value for Bichette. He's proven that he can be an All-Star caliber MLB player, but his value is a bit depressed right now.

It also makes sense that his future would be at a different position on the diamond, as he's been worth -14 Outs Above Average defensively in his career (though he was been worth 1 OAA this year, FWIW).

Regardless, it's clear that Bichette's a quality MLB player and can contribute on a winning team. It just doesn't seem like he'll get a chance to do that in Toronto long-term.