Insider: Blue Jays’ Bo Bichette is “As Good As Gone”

The Toronto Blue Jays continue to be a hugely disappointing team this offseason, with no prominent free agents willing to take their money. The Jays are coming off a last-place season, and with the 24th-ranked farm system, don't have a promising future to build on.

The two faces of the franchise, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette are each entering their final season of team control before entering unrestricted free agency. We already know that Vladdy and the team are $100 million apart in contract talks, and the latest word on Bichette is that he is also done after 2025, if not sooner.

Insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today dropped this on us in his latest MLB Notebook:

Bichette is as good as gone, with no real interest in returning, friends say.

We had heard something similar earlier during the 2024 season, that Bichette's friends relayed that he would not re-sign in Toronto. Now here it is again.

Will the Jays get proactive and trade Bichette? MLB Insider Buster Olney said today that they should definitely "blow it up".

Should the Blue Jays hit the reset button? pic.twitter.com/MoUkkhoJeP
— Paul Hembekides (Hembo) (@PaulHembo) January 9, 2025

"Even if they sign Anthony Santander, they are not close!" said Olney. "This is the most obvious rebuild team in all of baseball," added his ESPN Radio colleague Paul Hembekides. "I'm just not sure that the current front office is the group that's going to have the opportunity to hit that reset button."

Bichette, a two-time All-Star, had a dreadful 2024, his worst season in the majors, batting 70 points below his career average, finishing at .225, with an OPS+ over 50 points below his previous mark, with a 71 last season, and hitting just four homers in 81 games.