Report: Blue Jays were 'really after' Xander Bogaerts in free agency

Bob Nightengale of USA Today published a piece Sunday evening in which he interviewed super-agent Scott Boras, who gave some behind-the-scenes info on a whole plethora of his clients including Brandon Nimmo, Carlos Correa, Michael Conforto, Masataka Yoshida and Carlos Rodón.

Boras spoke to Nightengale primarily about the Correa saga and how he felt the Giants and Mets had wronged his client. He claims that the Mets hired the exact same doctor the Giants used for their failed physical. If this is true, I'm extremely confused what was going through the Mets' minds throughout the process.

Boras eventually circled around to Xander Bogaerts, who left the Red Sox and joined the San Diego Padres on an 11-year, $280M contract in free agency.

Per Boras, it was easy to see early on that the Red Sox were going to extend Rafael Devers instead of re-sign Bogaerts. He goes on to say that there were multiple teams "really after" Bogaerts in his free agency, including the Twins, Cubs and - most interestingly - the Blue Jays.

This is a very interesting development for the Blue Jays, as the pursuit of Bogaerts alone says a lot about how the club may feel about Bo Bichette as the club's primary shortstop. A signing of Bogaerts would surely have moved Bichette off of the position to allow the better defender to take over there.

Bichette doesn't have any issues with range but certainly has problems with his throwing arm, which may not be strong enough to warrant his staying at short long-term. A move off of the position would likely mean his becoming a full-time second baseman. From there, a significant logjam would be present at the position, as each of Bichette, Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio and Santiago Espinal would all be vying for playing time at one spot.

An aspect that makes this story even more intriguing is the fact that the Jays and Bichette seem to be having some disagreements on where his value currently lies. He was the only one out of 12 arbitration-eligible players to not come to an agreement before the deadline. The Jays are offering a $5M contract for him while he is said to be seeking a $7.5M deal.

An addition of Bogaerts would've brought up the question of, what if the Blue Jays would be willing to trade Bichette? There has long been stories about his attitude on the field, and at times his swagger comes off as a cocky and selfish. While we aren't going to get the opportunity to see where Bo would go after a Bogaerts signing, it's very interesting to ponder what could've been here.