Bo Bichette figures to be one of the centerpieces for the Blue Jays for the foreseeable future, but the budding superstar said on Sportsnet’s Good Show this week that a contract extension isn’t anything he’s thinking about at this time (audio clip).
“It’s been brought up and it’s definitely something I’m interested in, but at the same time I’m not going to sell myself short,” said Bichette. “We’ll see what happens. Right now, I’m not too worried about. I’ve still got a lot to prove in my career, and really the last thing on my mind is a contract extension.”
He’s only played in 75 games at the MLB level, but Bichette looks the part of an All-Star right now. The former top prospect has put together a .307/.347/549 slash with 16 home runs, 27 doubles, a triple and eight steals through his first 340 trips to the plate. He won’t be eligible for arbitration until after the 2022 season and is controlled all the way through 2025, however, so there’s ample time for the Jays to worry about financial matters down the road. Of course, the more Bichette established himself and the closer he inches to arbitration or free agency, the more the price tag on an extension will rise.
A couple more notes on the Jays…
- Right-hander Matt Shoemaker also joined The Good Show this week to chat about his time with the organization and his upcoming venture into free agency. The 34-year-old was dominant in five starts with the Blue Jays in 2019 before suffering a torn ACL that ended his season. He returned in 2020 with lesser results, but Shoemaker’s overall body of work in Toronto was solid: 11 starts, 57 1/3 frames, 3.14 ERA, 4.30 xFIP, 50-to-18 K/BB, 49.7 percent ground-ball rate. Home runs were a huge issue in 2020, but Shoemaker could represent a reasonably affordable piece of rotation depth and made clear that he’d love to return. “I just want to go to a team that’s just hungry, right?” said Shoemaker. “And the Jays are hungry, man. Like, we’ve got this really young team who just love the game, fiery players, really talented.”
- Toronto GM Ross Atkins said at season’s end that the Jays haven’t given up on the idea of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. being able to play some third base, even if he’s not a primary option there. The Toronto Star’s Gregor Chisholm makes a case against prioritizing versatility in this case and opines that Guerrero should simply be left to try to hone his craft at first base. Chisholm notes that defensive metrics and the eye test alike have panned Guerrero at both positions but likens Guerrero’s move across the diamond to the one made by Edwin Encarnacion several years ago — a move that eventually resulted in Encarnacion putting up some solid defensive marks at the less-demanding position. Guerrero still needs to develop better instincts at the spot, and getting regular reps at the spot should help.
Vladdy is a bust!
His power is overrated, he’s a good line drive hitter and he can a solid player for the jays
He hits ground balls over 110 mph that’s power if I’ve ever saw it.
I wouldnt say overrated. He just needs to put all his tools together in a season. Not an easy thing at his age but there is room for improvement obviously. Anyways my opinion is that this pandemic season was a bust overall and shouldnt reflect on someone’s potential for the long term. For F sakes there is no chance the Rays hold first place in a 162 game season with that roster.
Statcast started keeping track of exit velicity in 2015. Through six seasons, only five players have hit a ball 118 MPH or harder, more than once:
Giancarlo Stanton: 2351 PA, 29
Aaron Judge: 1832 PA, 10
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: 757 PA, 3
Carlos González: 2444 PA, 2
Gary Sánchez: 1754 PA, 2
Pete Alonso: 935 PA, 2
Considering his debut was in 2019, that’s impressive.
The kid has power.
Why is hitting a ball 118 MPH 3 times the barometer
He’s 21-years old. It is far too early to call him a bust.
Ya he certainly hasn’t been as spectacular as advertised so far but if he progressed like Judge or Alonso he wouldn’t even be seeing the big leagues for another three or four years. The fact he’s even been above average with the bat this early is promising, there’s no reason to believe he can’t eventually reach that height.
Oh mym me and JD agree on something. Vladdy is young, immature, doesn’t know how to diet properly to be a elite player. Greatness will come.
Says the guy with zero MLB experience
He’s only 21… you need to simmer down
Bichette is heading towards stardom and seems to be taking a page out of the Mookie Betts handbook. If Toronto wants to extend him, they are going to have to pay him top dollar to do so.
While I know people come in all shapes and sizes, the Blue Jays have to be very disappointed in Vlad’s conditioning. If he’s this out of shape in his early 20’s, what’s he going to look like at age 28-30? If Vlad wants to maximize his success (and earnings) he really needs to work in the offseason to reshape his body and show that he’s committed to long term success in MLB. Vlad Jr. will never look like his dad, but he certainly needs to lose 20-30+ pounds and make lifestyle changes to keep that weight off. He’d be such a better player if he wasn’t carrying around all of that extra, unhealthy weight.
I agree. These guys are the resources for the best trainers and nutritionist. Vlad should be taking advantage of that.
Vlad hasn’t even matured yet. He’s 21 a month younger than I. I relate to him a lot with body type. You have one bad cheat day and you’re set back. He body will mature his mind will mature you need patience with young kids.
I would imagine it will be much harder to lock up Vlad, Biggio and Bichette than other young players because they don’t need the financial security of taking less money early because they, should, have family money.
Jays just need to pull the trigger and go for Joe Musgrove. They were heavily pursuing him at the deadline, and need more starters outside of just Ryu and Pearson.
Vlad Jr. is grossly overweight; until he get’s that under control the ball will keep finding him. It’s hard for even a gifted athlete to keep that trailer out of the way while making a defensive play.
Vlad Jr. has a definite future in the majors. He is looking more and more like a full time DH.
Don’t worry about Vlad’s conditioning. He’s just hired a nutritionist/ conditioning expert whose worked with baseball players like Pablo Sandoval and David Ortiz.
Great Sarcasm again Bob!
They need 1 more surefire Sp
Ryu Pearson X is a playoff rotation
I think the trade route might be more fruitful than free agency – They gotta lotta talent in the wings to trade and a clear need in the rotation – They cant repeat that Stripling trade though, that felt rushed and was an overpay for a nominal #5 starter
Vlad’s got to be one of the 10 best all around hitters in baseball for him to even live up to some of the hype placed upon him. He will never offer anything else on the field except for his bat and offense isn’t as valuable as it once was in the juiced ball era. You can find mediocre first base/DH types anywhere.
Vladdy will be star in MLB. Everyone take a pill and relax. He has much to learn and grow into. He is a good athlete and will eventually make a good 1B. He is much more than a DH.
Bichette will not be a star in this league. As I said years ago, he will be below average. He is fragile, we saw that when he was in AA[and JD, I called it then]. He is not a fulltime MLB shortstop. He is heading for 2nd base.
As for starting pitching, some of the bullpen KIds need to step up and take the opportunity to earn a spot in the rotation. There are no aces there but plenty of one of 3’s, 4’s and 5’s. Shoemaker needs to be cut or picked up for a song. He is a fragile righty.
Shapiro and Atkins are not the executives to take this club to the next level. Shapiro had admitted he can’t judge free agents well. Atkins likes his laptop more than he likes scouts. The BlueJays needs both, great scouting and proper use of analytics. They have neither. #Scoutseyes
#correctivesurgerydoeswonders
#scoutseyes
yup in one more season he’ll be an excellent DH.
I doubt Bichette ever signs an extension with the Jays. He comes from a well-off family and was a high draft pick, so money is not an issue. He also comes from a baseball family. Not just his father, but Joe Girardi and the Bichette family are close. He won’t be offering any discounts. He’s also a very confident young man. He’ll score big through arbitration and then he will hit free agency when he’s still only 28.
Giving Bichette an extension anytime soon would be a mistake. He’s shown himself to be an injury risk, and you never know when an injury-prone player’s performance (at the plate, in the field and on the bases) will drop precipitously due to physical problems. Anybody who thinks they know what kind of a player he’ll be in 6 years is overconfident.
Really, none of Bichette, Guerrero and Biggio are likely extension candidates anyway. You give a kid an extension when he’d rather ensure his financial security than bet that he’ll have a long successful career. These guys are sons of star players who thus naturally believe they will be stars with 15 year careers of their own. Teoscar Hernandez would be a better extension target. Maybe Pearson. Or if you want to buy low and take a risk, Danny Jansen.
Shoemaker pitches 57 innings in 2 years. MLBTR:
“Shoemaker’s overall body of work in Toronto was solid”
Have to wonder what would constitute a thin body of work, if 57 inning is two years Is “solid”.
Damn. Sounds like alot of people are already calling it a career for this KID! Kid being the ultimate word here. The way he lit up A and A+ ball and given his last name, there was no way this guy wasn’t going to be expected to be a 22 year old MVP. Well keep in mind that at his age most players are just starting to sniff AA ball, and moving positions defensively can severely alter your time at the plate. I would LOVE to watch this kid grow up at the dish with my squad (Tigers) so if you give up on him in Toronto, please send him over to Comerica Park! We’ll take him and say thank you!
Vlad will be a .300/.350/.500 hitter when he breaks out either this year or next. Once that happens I think he will consistently be an .850-.950 OPS hitter for the next 6-9 years. He’s never going to play gold glove first or run the bases like Cavan or Bo. But he’s definitely got extra base power and strong contact skills, he’s also shown good durability. Ideally, he needs to show a bit more plate discipline, would be nice to see him take as many BB’s as K’s. I still say he’s got MVP potential, he’s definitely got a lot of time to make it happen but he’s not a 5 tool player so he will have to do it entirely with the bat.
Remenber guys big papi start to hit in boston after couple mediocre years whit the twins
So we never know whit vlad but dont expect too much