"Very Little Confidence Marcus Semien Returns to Toronto": Jays Reporter

Toronto Blue Jay fans, once they were finally reunited with the team at Rogers Centre throughout August and September, were often heard chanting "M-V-P! M-V-P!" for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. However, there are many observers of the team who would tell you that Marcus Semien might have been the team's MVP this season.

The veteran infielder, normally a shortstop, came in on a one-year, $18 million dollar contract, and went on to not only produce the most home runs (45) for a second baseman in MLB history (with power numbers not far off from Guerrero's), but he routinely came through in the clutch for the Jays, rapping out big hits, time and time again.

He also provided quality defense, and veteran clubhouse leadership for all of the team's young guns, like Vlad, Bo Bichette and Teoscar Hernandez.

But signing only a one-year deal was by design for Semien; it gave him the chance to rebuild his value to what it was after his 3rd-place MVP finish in 2019 with the Oakland A's. Now, he's quite likely in line for another 3rd-place finish in MVP balloting. And a humongous new nine-figure multi-year contract on the free agent market.

But will it be coming from Toronto? Sportsnet's Arash Madani, who covers the Blue Jays, doesn't think so. "I have very very very little confidence that Marcus Semien returns to Toronto," he told Sportsnet The Fan radio this week. "Because I think he wants to return to Northern California."

Yes, there were three "very"s in there.

Semien is from the Bay Area, still has his house there, and Madani thinks the San Francisco Giants are going to "open up the vault" this offseason. And as Semien recently said, despite his tremendous success at 2B this season, "I still see myself as a shortstop."

Hmm. The Blue Jays do already have a guy at short, Bo Bichette, who isn't going anywhere, anytime soon. Perhaps the bonds Semien built this year in Toronto will help to sway him to consider returning. Bichette, for one, was very emotional when confronted with the idea that Semien might not be around:

"Everything... He's meant a lot to me."

An emotional Bo Bichette reflects on what he learned from his teammate Marcus Semien this season. pic.twitter.com/GYSuCd3R06
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) October 4, 2021