This contract offer could keep Bo Bichette in Toronto as Blue Jays hot streak grows

At this point, we're not sure what's left for Bo Bichette to prove. The 27-year-old shortstop has done everything the Toronto Blue Jays could have asked of him in what is, contractually, the biggest year of his career. Bichette entered Tuesday's game against the Rockies slashing .297/.338/.456 with 13 home runs and an OPS+ of 118.

He leads the league with 141 hits and if he keeps up this pace it will be the third time already in his seven year career that he has topped the junior circuit in the hits department. He also leads the league in hitting with runners in scoring position (.381), tops all AL shortstops in RBIs and is fourth among all shortstops with a 48.7 hard hit percentage.

The Blue Jays may have shot themselves in the foot by not signing Bo to a long term deal when they signed Vladdy Guerrero Jr. earlier this year. At the time, Bichette was coming off his worst season when his 2024 campaign was marred by injuries and he produced a meager -0.3 bWAR while struggling through the majority of the 81 games he appeared in.

It might have been a tough sell for Toronto's front office to convince themselves that getting Bo for the long haul was a worthy investment - but now they are trying to figure out exactly what Bo is worth.

This contract offer could keep Bo Bichette in Toronto as Blue Jays hot streak grows

He's likely going to command a salary well north of $200 million - maybe even $300. That's because Bichette will be hitting the market at the perfect time. He's going to easily be the best shortstop available this winter, which will drive up his price significantly. His peers include Trevor Story (opt-out), Ha-Seong Kim (opt-out), Orlando Arcia (club option), Miguel Rojas, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Amed Rosario.

And that price will also continue to rise as long as Bo stays hot. He's been arguably the best hitter in the American League over the last three-and-a-half weeks, hitting .385 and driving in 21 RBIs since the All-Star break. Both of those numbers top the AL.

The highest paid shortstop in the game right now is Francisco Lindor, who is making $34 million a season, after signing a 10-year $341 million contract in 2022 when he was 28-years-old, the same age Bichette will be during Spring Training 2026.

Only three other primary shortstops are making over $300 million and they are Fernando Tatis Jr., Corey Seager and Trea Turner and Bobby Witt Jr. is close behind at $288 million. Witt signed his deal at 23-years-old for 11 years while Tatis was only 21 when he signed his 14-year-deal.

Turner, Lindor and Seager offer good comparisons for Bo as they were all around the same age when they signed their huge contracts. Bichette has some comparable numbers to this group through their final seasons before hitting free agency. He has a better bWAR than Seager (20.2 to 17.5), he trails only Lindor in hits (1,000 - 864), home runs (158-108) and RBI (474-417). He does have Lindor beat in OPS+ (120-115) but trails the group in OBP, SLG, and OPS. Bichette has also played more games than Turner and Seager, but less than Lindor.

While his agents will probably try to build a case for why he should get break that $300 million barrier, there are just as many comparables to show why he should and why he shouldn't be given a deal that high. There also likely isn't a bidder in a major market that would seem to be willing to spend that kind of cash on a shortstop - of course anything can change with the Dodgers and the Yankees of the world. If those two teams get involved in a bidding war for Bichette, he may very well be the next $300 million man.

It's more likely, he'll get a deal that looks similar to what Willy Adames or Dansby Swanson got. Adames received a seven year contract for $182 million ($26 million AAV) while Swanson was signed for seven years at $177 million ($25 million AAV).

Bichette is just slightly younger than those two players when he will be entering free agency, but it's likely teams will look to get him for somewhere in that range of 6-8 years with an AAV around $28 million, staying above the Adames/Swanson deals and below the Carlos Correa deal ($200 million over six years, $33 million AAV).

At the highest end, that contract would be worth $224 million for Bichette, taking him into his age 36 season, roughly the same age when most of these other shortstops see their contracts also coming to an end. This represents a competitive deal within the current market and is also a deal the Blue Jays could comfortably make as well based on the money that will be coming off their books within the next two seasons.