Bichette, Blue Jays Settle on Three-Year, $33.6 Million Deal

The Toronto Blue Jays have locked up a key part of the team’s future for another three seasons.

General manager Ross Atkins and company avoided arbitration with star shortstop Bo Bichette, by agreeing to a three-year, $33.6 million contract set to begin for the 2023 Major League Baseball season.

Included in the deal is a three-and-a-quarter million dollar signing bonus, which is due to the 24-year-old within a month of the league’s contract approval – meaning, once Rob Manfred and his team officially give the go-ahead on Toronto’s signing, the team must pay Bichette an additional $3.25 million within 30 days.

Breaking down his deal, Bichette will earn $2.85 million during the 2023 calendar year ($6.1 million total including signing bonus), before seeing an increase to $11 million next season. He will then finish the contract with a 2025 season that will see him earn $16.5 million on the year.

Other potential bonuses for Bichette would be an additional $2.25 million if he finishes as the American League MVP. Should he finish within the Top-5 in voting, he will also see an increase in pay. A fourth or fifth-place finish would grant him an extra $250K, while a second or third-place finish would see a quick $1.25 million added to his year-end paycheque.

Having earned roughly $800K last season, Bichette’s was a raise to a first-year, starting salary of $7.5 million and climbing. The team offered him an ongoing $5 million yearly rate, to which he graciously declined. It appeared as though the two sides were set for salary arbitration hearings, but cooler heads prevailed by way of the three-year, $33.6 million deal.

With an estimated career earnings of $1.8 million, Bichette will see a year of significant growth – not only in his bank account but also on the field, as his team will look sizeably different than the group that finished the 2022 season together.

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With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also coming to terms on a deal this past January that will make him the eighth-highest-paid first baseman in the league this season, Bichette will at least be throwing to a familiar glove at first. Second base will once again be a bit of a rotation between Santiago Espinal, Whit Merrifield and Cavan Biggio at second base, while he and Guerrero will likely both see relief coming in the form of veteran glove and offseason signing, Brandon Belt.

For Bichette, 2023 will also be a year to which he hopes to get back to his 2021 form – a season that saw him put up 29 home runs, 102 RBIs, and a .298 average, while earning a place in the All-Star Game. Last year, he dropped off slightly, hitting just .290 with 24 homers and 93 runs batted in.

Soon to be 25, Bichette will look to build upon what has worked for him in the past. A back-and-forth 2022 season saw him finish with a stellar September, where he put an exclamation mark on his season, following what he called a couple “sub-par” summer months.

He led the American League in hits in both 2021 and 2022, with 189 to his name last year alone. He also managed 13 stolen bases last season. For his career, Bichette has 69 home runs, 239 RBIs and a .297/.340/.491 hitting line.

Serving as Toronto’s final arbitration case to take care of during the offseason, president Mark Shapiro can breathe easy knowing both Bo and Vladdy have sorted out their details.

“The closer they get to free agency, the more that changes their equation of risk,” Shapiro said of Guerrero and Bichette back in December. “It makes them probably less willing to give up the risk of what it means to be out there. The timing, it impacts the sharing of the risk and that sweet spot equation. I think that’s the right word. We’re looking for the sweet spot.”

With Bo, however, the three-year contract means he will be an unrestricted free agent in 2026, able to sign wherever he so chooses, unless an extension is put in place by the Blue Jays at some point before then.