ATLANTA — Bo Bichette did plenty of reflecting while home recovering from his calf injury, especially as speculation about his future with the Toronto Blue Jays intensified before the trade deadline came and went.
Dealing with his name running through the rumour mill was a new and difficult experience, especially with his contract expiring after the 2025 season. And though he knew he’d only be dealt if an offer truly forced the team’s hand, the possibilities felt real in a way they never had before.
“When I had time to think about what I want, basically, my ultimate goal really is to play with Vladdy (Guerrero Jr.) forever, to win a championship with him and to do that with this organization,” the two-time all-star shortstop said during an interview at Truist Park before heading out for a rehab assignment with triple-A Buffalo that starts Tuesday. “I’m 100 per cent committed to doing whatever it takes to accomplish those things. That’s where I’m at.”
While the sentiment isn’t new for the 26-year-old, it is the first time he’s expressed it publicly in such definitive fashion, dispelling the notion circulating in industry gossip that he doesn’t plan to re-sign in Toronto. Given that Guerrero, who is also eligible for free agency after next season, has long made clear his desire to remain with the Blue Jays long-term, a potentially franchise-altering winter looms.
Extending both cornerstone players is an immensely complicated task as it will require, by a large margin, the largest financial commitments in team history, while also locking the club into continued attempts at contention in the years ahead to leverage the deals.
As a result, a case can be made that the Blue Jays are facing two of the most consequential player decisions the franchise has ever faced this off-season. While in theory decisions on one or both could be pushed to the 2025 season or even after it, the reality is that the most opportune window to an extension, for both sides, is this off-season.
That will play out how it’s going to play out, but Bichette made clear that, “I want to win, first off,” and that he wants to do it, “with Vladdy, for this organization.”
“We’ve talked since we were 18 years old in low-A, we’ve looked at each other every single year and told each other that we want to be together forever and win as many championships as we can,” said Bichette. “From my point of view, what I’m focused on now is how do we get back to who we are here.”
To that end, Bichette did a lot of looking in the mirror, not only at his uncharacteristic .222/.275/.320 batting line through 80 games, but also at the way he carried the burden the Blue Jays placed on him, Guerrero and George Springer to drive the offence this year, an approach the front office has certainly revisited as well.
A relentless and determined competitor, Bichette internalized the team’s struggles with his own difficulties at the plate, putting more pressure on himself to perform, which in turn made it harder for him to find any sort of rhythm. The more his numbers slipped, the more work he put in on his own to get out of it, a vicious circle that spun out of control.
“I feel like I’ve learned a lot more about myself through failure, whether that be on the field or maybe not feeling like I led as good as I should have, just a lot of reflection seeing what I can do better,” he said. “I can do better on the field but I also can do better off the field, in the clubhouse, everything. I’m just looking forward to having an opportunity to do better.”
The rehab assignment beginning Tuesday when the Bisons are at Gwinnett is Bichette’s next step on that front.
He spent the weekend continuing to work out with the Blue Jays, building up his body for the daily toll of playing nine innings and is “feeling pretty confident” in his troublesome right calf, which he reinjured July 19 in his third at-bat in the first game out of the all-star break.
For two weeks he couldn’t walk without pain before that eased at the beginning of August, at which point he started a tedious rehab. Once he was able to do heel raises without issue, he felt like he was on track for a return.
By late August, he rejoined the Blue Jays to finish up his buildup, getting the clearance for the rehab assignment this weekend. Driving him throughout the long process was “how much you miss the game when you’re away from it,” he said. “I just really want to get back on the field. Competing, being around the team, all of it, really.”
Manager John Schneider suggested Bichette would play in at least four or five rehab games, which puts him on track for a return during this weekend’s series against St. Louis, or more likely during next week’s visit to the Texas Rangers.
However many games with the Blue Jays he manages upon return, finishing the season active will allow Bichette to feel that he’s “closed out the rehab process.”
“If didn’t get back on the field, I don’t know where I would be mentally,” he said. “Obviously I would be fine after four months at home, but I’ll be closing the loop on that, getting back on the field and knowing that I’m good. The results are going to be what they are from the season and from the two-week stretch. But I just want to get back on the field, feel like myself. If the results look great, if they don’t, it is what it is, can’t really fix the season at this point. So I’m just trying to get back on the field, feel like myself, healthy and get ready for a good off-season.”
In a wider sense, that’s what the Blue Jays are aiming to do over the season’s final three weeks, too. Bichette has been impressed watching the wave of talent either promoted from Buffalo or acquired during the deadline and believes the infusion of youth will only help next season. But just as he’s reflected, so too has the front office, with the recent dismissal of minor-league pitching co-ordinator Cory Popham the first concrete evidence of the club’s intent to do things differently, at least on the player-development side, next year.
The trade deadline sell-off, along with the hard lessons the Blue Jays have learned on the major-league side this season, will have value if it becomes the foundation for a better 2025.
“A lot of times you have to hit a low place to really figure out who you are, whether that be as a player or an organization, whatever it is, and I think (the deadline pickups) give us a strong opportunity to bounce back stronger than we’ve been before,” said Bichette. “I’m looking forward to that and I’m looking forward to seeing what everybody thinks is the right path for us to take, whatever moves those may be. There are a lot of young kids here showing a lot of good things and it’s been exciting to watch them.”
