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Ranking Blue Jays SS Bo Bichette's Top 10 Landing Spots Ahead of MLB Free Agency
For Bo Bichette's bank account, what a massive difference a year can make in free agency.
Had he hit the open market last winter after what was by far the worst season of his career, there probably wouldn't have been any lucrative long-term offers. But after a bounce-back year, he definitely would have led the majors in hits if he hadn't missed the final three weeks of the regular season with a sprained knee. As such, it's likely he'll get a nine-figure contract.
Bichette's 2025 Stats: .311/.357/.483, 18 HR, 94 RBI, 4 SB, 3.4 bWAR
Bichette's Career Stats: .294/.337/.469, 111 HR, 437 RBI, 60 SB, 20.8 bWAR
Spotrac Market Value Estimate: 8 years, $186M
What's unique about the shortstop market, however, is that most teams—including the vast majority of those who have actually signed a $100 million free agent in the past—already have a long-term plan in place.
Trea Turner and Xander Bogaerts are signed through 2033. Mookie Betts is locked up through 2032. Francisco Lindor, Corey Seager, Willy Adames and Ezequiel Tovar are under contract through 2031. The Diamondbacks have Geraldo Perdomo for another half-decade. Dansby Swanson has four years left on his deal. And the likes of Elly De La Cruz, Masyn Winn, Zach Neto, Gunnar Henderson and CJ Abrams won't hit free agency until after 2028, at the earliest.
Because of that and his considerably less-than-elite defense at SS, there's a good chance Bichette gets asked to move to either 2B or DH on a new deal.
However, with these landing spots, we're operating under the assumption the 27-year-old, who has racked up at least 175 hits in four of the past five seasons, will want to remain at the only position he has played in his regular-season big league career.
Bonus Candidate: Cleveland Guardians
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Brayan Rocchio and Gabriel Arias
The first couple of teams we'll encounter on this list are considerable long shots for financial reasons.
Cleveland, in particular, might be less likely to spend than anyone, considering it won the AL Central in spite of trading away Josh Naylor, Andrés Giménez, Eli Morgan and Myles Straw before the season, trading away both Shane Bieber and Paul Sewald during the season, waiving Carlos Santana in late August and losing two key pitchers to a gambling scandal.
That said, aside from José Ramírez, Steven Kwan and the weekly Kyle Manzardo home run, its offense was kind of terrible, ranking dead-last in the American League in runs scored. And between Arias, Rocchio and the occasional Daniel Schneemann appearance, the Guardians got a .204/.263/.321 triple-slash from their barely replacement-level shortstop brigade—even with Rocchio's regular-season ending walk-off home run factored into that math.
This franchise has never invested more than $60 million in a free agent, so tripling that out of nowhere for Bichette almost certainly isn't happening. But if they felt like investing in their offense for a change, shortstop is the low-hanging fruit where they stand to gain around 100 points of batting average.
10. Pittsburgh Pirates
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Jared Triolo, with Konnor Griffin or Termarr Johnson plausibly ready for the big leagues by the end of the year
As with Cleveland, history tells us this rust belt franchise is extremely unlikely to get involved in any sort of serious bidding war in free agency.
Pittsburgh has never spent more than $39 million on a free agent, and even that was a re-signing of Francisco Liriano. The most the Pirates have invested in an "external hire" was $17 million for two years of Russell Martin more than a decade ago.
But is it finally time for the Pirates to invest?
After a season in which their young nucleus of pitchers allowed fewer than 4.0 runs per game, yet ended the year 20 games below .500 with a minus-62 run differential thanks to an offense that darn near slugged worse than any other team in the past decade?
The No. 9 overall pick in 2024, Konnor Griffin, and 2022 No. 4 overall pick Termarr Johnson could be part of the equation as early as next season. Both have experience at shortstop, but the former can play center (with Oneil Cruz becoming the primary DH, if Pittsburgh is done giving Andrew McCutchen one-year deals every year) and the latter is primarily a second baseman, so there's definitely an opening at shortstop for some offense.
Knowing the Pirates, though, they'll probably fill that opening with a league-minimum, one-year "investment" in Paul DeJong or Orlando Arcia.
9. Minnesota Twins
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Brooks Lee
How about one more "You don't honestly think they'll spend that much?" team before we move on to the more realistic candidates.
Notably, we have at least seen Minnesota go all-in on a shortstop before, twice signing Carlos Correa to a multi-year deal with an AAV north of $33 million. The Twins were also the surprise winner of the Josh Donaldson sweepstakes a few years ago, giving him a four-year, $92 million contract—before also trading him away halfway through the contract.
However, after that fire sale a few months ago, are they going to reinvest in winning in 2026?
The Twins do still have a respectable nucleus to try to build around. Rotation fixtures Pablo López, Joe Ryan and Bailey Ober are under team control for two more years, with recent acquisitions Taj Bradley and Mick Abel each controllable for much longer than that. Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis aren't going anywhere. Luke Keaschall was a pleasant surprise. And outfield prospects Walker Jenkins and Emmanuel Rodriguez could be part of the equation next season.
It's not outlandish to think Minnesota could contend in the AL Central next season with an infusion of Bichette, provided it also spruces up a bullpen that was dismantled at the trade deadline.
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8. Atlanta Braves
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Ha-Seong Kim
Through the end of August, Atlanta looked like a fantastic candidate to sign Bichette, getting nothing on offense from the shortstop spot—we're talking zero home runs in 137 games—to that point in the year.
However, they then scooped Ha-Seong Kim off waivers from Tampa Bay and threw a $16 million player option of a wrench into our offseason crystal ball.
Prior to going 1-for-19 in his final five games of the season, Kim hit .309 in his first 19 games with Atlanta. That was good enough that the Braves are probably hoping he accepts the player option, but also good enough that he could reenter free agency and get a multi-year deal.
Either way, Atlanta remains a plausible landing spot for Bichette. Kim also has quite a bit of experience at both 2B and 3B, where regulars Ozzie Albies and Austin Riley both ended the year on the IL. With all the injuries the Braves endured this season, they might be more inclined to actually have some positional depth for a change.
Then again, if Kim opts in and Atlanta exercises its club options on Chris Sale, Ozzie Albies, Pierce Johnson and Tyler Kinley, they would already be sitting at $204.5 million for 15 returnees. That will get pushed to about $220 million once you factor in the arbitration and pre-arbitration estimates, which is where they opened each of the past two seasons. Might be too rich for their blood.
7. Detroit Tigers
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Trey Sweeney and Javier Báez with some occasional Zach McKinstry
A bunch of factors went into Detroit's horrendous 9-22 limp to the finish line of the regular season, but perhaps the biggest of them all was the revolving door of mediocrity on the left side of the infield.
Zach McKinstry's appearances at both short and third were respectable, but Colt Keith, Andy Ibáñez, Trey Sweeney and Javier Báez went a combined 37-for-205 (.180) at the dish in those final 31 games. And with Gleyber Torres headed for free agency, well, McKinstry can't play all the infield positions simultaneously.
Detroit does have 21-year-old shortstop Kevin McGonigle waiting in the wings as one of the highest rated prospects in all of baseball. He only played in 88 games this season, but he did so with an OPS just under 1.000. It's unlikely they'll deem him ready for the Opening Day job with just 46 games at Double-A under his belt, but he could be in the mix by the end of next season.
If they were to land Bichette, though, McGonigle could man second base when his time comes.
Even assuming Jack Flaherty exercises his $20 million player option, Detroit certainly should have the room in the budget to make it happen. That option, Báez's $24 million salary and Keith's $4.3 million salary are the only known figures in what is otherwise an ocean of arbitration and pre-arbitration deals.
6. Boston Red Sox
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Trevor Story?
Six months ago, Boston had to assume it was going to be stuck with Trevor Story for another two years and $55 million.
The oft-injured shortstop had a .693 OPS while playing in just 163 games across his first three seasons with the Red Sox, so opting out of the final two years on his deal in hopes of getting more money elsewhere would have been ill-advised.
However, after Story put together a 2025 campaign worthy of AL Comeback Player of the Year consideration, having him opt in might be their best-case scenario and would remove them from the conversation here.
If he does opt out, though, they have three options:
- Block the opt out by exercising the 2028 club option now, essentially signing him to a new three-year, $75 million contract. While that's a risky proposition given his injury history, they just might do it, seeing as how Alex Bregman has already opted out at the hot corner.
- Let Story walk and piece something together with Marcelo Mayer, Ceddanne Rafaela, David Hamilton and Vaughn Grissom.
- Let Story walk, sign Bo Bichette away from a division rival and pray it works out better this time than it did with David Price and Carl Crawford.
Let's circle back when all option decisions have been finalized and see if Boston still has any interest in Bichette. It could be a great fit, though, as he has a career .907 OPS in 35 games played at Fenway Park, and Boston has a lot of options for hiding his glove if it gets any worse.
5. Colorado Rockies
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Ezequiel Tovar
We're making one pretty big exception to the "Bichette wants to remain a shortstop" assumption here, as Tovar was a Gold Glove shortstop in 2024 who is signed through at least 2030. He and Hunter Goodman are pretty much the only building blocks Colorado has, aside from 2025 first-round pick Ethan Holliday, who is most likely several years away from making his big-league debut.
However, if any team is liable to pay Bichette like a shortstop (average salary among 10 highest-paid SS in 2024 was $24 million) while asking him to play second base (Marcus Semien was the only 2B to make at least $16 million in 2024), it might be the Colorado Rockies.
At any rate, playing in Colorado worked wonders for Bo's dad. Dante Bichette spent seven seasons with the Rockies, named an All-Star four times, twice leading the majors in total hits and batting .316. In his seven MLB seasons elsewhere, he was a .269-hitting, replacement-level, zero-time All-Star.
Bichette wouldn't instantly fix this 119-loss catastrophe, but it has been almost a quarter century since they were last able to convince an even remotely noteworthy free-agent starting pitcher to sign there.
Improving the offense is step one to digging out of this hole, and perhaps Bichette can be the consistent bat they were hoping Kris Bryant would be.
4. San Diego Padres
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Xander Bogaerts
If the Padres were to sign Bichette, it would most likely be him moving to second base instead of Bogaerts. However, Bogaerts did almost exclusively play second in 2024 until Ha-Seong Kim's season-ending shoulder injury, so it could go either way.
The moral of the story, though, is that the Padres have a gaping hole in the infield with Luis Arraez slated for free agency. And between Bogaerts' 2B/SS possibility and Jake Cronenworth's ability to play first or second base, the Dads can kind of have their pick of the litter as far as where in the field to make a splash.
Whether they actually do something big (read: this expensive) remains to be seen, though.
They're certainly trying to win right now. You don't give up all the prospects San Diego gave up for Mason Miller if you're not planning on winning a World Series by 2029.
However, the Padres do already have five players signed for at least $20 million apiece in 2026, as well as a staggering $177 million already committed to 2027. And if they do have another big investment up their sleeve, it might be earmarked for an ace pitcher instead of for a hitter.
3. Los Angeles Dodgers
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Mookie Betts
In his first season fully entrenched at shortstop, Betts led the NL in Defensive bWAR, becoming the only player to lead his league in dWAR multiple times in the past decade—the other coming as a right fielder in the AL in 2016.
Much like San Diego's situation, it's likely Bichette would be the one changing positions if he signs with Los Angeles. Then again, Betts is 33 now and still under contract for another seven seasons. The Dodgers might want Bichette at shortstop to reduce the wear and tear on Betts, who already had a 44-game stretch this season with an extremely un-Betts-like .489 OPS.
And, well, moving Betts back to right field and Teoscar Hernández back to left field would be one way to address the Michael Conforto vacancy. It would cement Andy Pages in center and Tommy Edman at second with Hyeseong Kim becoming one of the "plays anywhere and everywhere" options they always seem to have on hand.
Were this any other franchise, we'd have to ask how they can afford it, considering they're already looking at a 2026 payroll where the 14 known salaries total more than $240 million.
But it's the Dodgers. If they really want Bichette, they'll make it work by deferring payments until 2060 or something equally infuriating to the other 29 fanbases.
2. New York Yankees
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Anthony Volpe and José Caballero
With year-end OPS marks of .666, .657 and .663 over his first three seasons in the big leagues, we pretty well know what to expect out of Anthony Volpe at this point.
And, well, he's much more Isiah Kiner-Falefa than Derek Jeter.
Volpe has three years of arbitration eligibility still to come, though, and top prospect George Lombard Jr. will hopefully be ready long before that window closes.
So do they just continue to let it ride with Volpe until it's Lombard Time?
Or could they bring in Bichette to start at shortstop for a year, with plans to shift him to second base and hand Lombard the reins at short once Jazz Chisholm Jr. hits free agency next winter?
With Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt all headed for free agency, the Yankees definitely have some offseason work to do on the offense. And getting Bichette's career .294 batting average into the lineup directly ahead of Aaron Judge would be nice.
As far as the finances are concerned, New York's "pending arbitration figures" payroll for 2026 isn't even $180 million right now—and they've been close to $300 million on Opening Day each of the past three seasons. They can easily afford Bichette if they're ready to move on from Volpe.
1. Toronto Blue Jays
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Projected 2026 Plan at Shortstop: Addison Barger, Ernie Clement or Andrés Giménez
Bichette's free agency could wind up playing out similarly to Pete Alonso's last year: Despite projections for a colossal, near-$200 million contract, the actual long-term offers never materialize. His former team pursues re-signing him, but with an initial offer that reminds all parties involved why they were never able to get an extension finalized before now. Yet, after a few weeks or months, he decides he wants to go where everybody knows his name, albeit on a less massive contract than the original goal.
Or maybe the Yankees swoop in with a Godfather offer. Who knows?
However, the most logical landing spot for Bichette is the one he has been in for the past seven years.
Aside from Toronto, the teams that actually need a shortstop can't (or, rather, choose to act like they can't) afford to sign a free agent to a $150 million contract. And if teams like the Dodgers or Padres try to pay him like a top-five second baseman instead of like a top-five shortstop, those negotiations might be over before they ever truly begin.
The Blue Jays owe Andrés Giménez $84 million over the next four years, plus a $23 million club option for 2030. Have to imagine Bichette will insist on getting better than that. Maybe it ends up being something like five years for $115 million with a club option for a sixth season and maybe it takes them until February to get it done.
He ought to be back north of the border, though. They just might have to backload the deal a bit, paying him more in 2027 and beyond after George Springer, Kevin Gausman, Daulton Varsho and others hit free agency next winter.
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