Blue Jays rival bites the dust in Bo Bichette race after worrisome rumor

Just as quickly as the flames started to flicker, they have now been doused in the Bo Bichette to Boston rumors. According to CBS Sports' National Baseball Reporter Julian Mack, the Red Sox have pulled out of the Bichette sweepstakes.

Blue Jays rival bites the dust in Bo Bichette race after worrisome rumor

Mack took to twitter to say, "The Red Sox are no longer involved for SS Bo Bichette unless his market changes drastically." Blue Jays fans can take that in two ways. One, they can breath a sigh of relief that the home grown star player won't end up playing for a division rival. Two, they may be concerned about what exactly Bichette's market is, and are the Blue Jays still within those parameters?

This all stems after a supposed zoom call between Bichette and the Red Sox went well earlier this week. There was also the analyst prediction made that Bo would go there. Former MLB player and current analyst on the MLB Network, Cliff Floyd, said at the beginning of the Winter Meetings that Bichette would sign with the Red Sox. We now know that for the time being that won't be the case, but it doesn't mean that can't change down the road.

Bichette's "market" could mean that the Red Sox aren't willing to reach his asking price. Ahead of the Winter Meetings, The Athletic's Jim Bowden speculated that Bichette would sign a seven-year $189 million deal. If that is indeed in line with what Bichette is going to get, it feels like a relatively reasonable market deal, compared to Bichette's contemporaries. But Bo's price has fluctuated greatly over the last 12 months. Some thought at one point he could be a $300 million player and others felt he would be lucky to get $150 million.

The giant gap and fluctuations all have to do with Bo's injury history, missing a big chunk of the 2024 season and then the end of the 2025 campaign. Teams also don't love his defensive skills at shortstop. But what teams are willing to pay for is his bat, with a hard hit rate in the 83rd percentile and his xBA in the 99th percentile, and they like that he's willing to be versatile and potentially play anywhere on the infield outside of first base.

Bichette will likely land a fairly lucrative deal by the time it is all said and done and the Blue Jays very likely could be the ones to give it to him. But for now, at least, it looks like there is one less bidder for Bichette's services.