Blue Jays Predicted to Bring Back Bo Bichette, Plus $460M...

By Jackson Roberts

Contributing Sports Writer

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The Toronto Blue Jays have all the ingredients for a massive offseason.

A World Series loss to motivate them. A big-name free agent of their own. A good core roster, but needs at enough positions to justify serious spending. Almost every sign is pointing toward the Blue Jays stepping up their payroll in their quest to avenge their Game 7 defeat against the back-to-back champion Los Angeles Dodgers.

Bringing back Bo Bichette, regardless of whether he plays shortstop or second base, will be the primary measuring stick for the Blue Jays until further notice. But there's also Kyle Tucker, who will likely cost a good amount more than Toronto's homegrown two-time All-Star (perhaps even double).

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Could the Blue Jays somehow land both Tucker and Bichette, given that they may very well become the two highest-paid free agents of this year's class?

Andy McCullough of The Athletic believes it can happen. On Tuesday, McCullough predicted that both Bichette and Tucker would land in Toronto in the publication's yearly exercise of pairing one free agent with each team.

"The team came within a hair’s breadth of winning the World Series, and by all indications, owner Edward Rogers is willing to spend to keep the team’s championship window open," wrote McCullough. "Toronto has played the bridesmaid for years in free agency, falling short on Ohtani, Soto and others, but I think this is the year the tide turns.

"Not only should the Blue Jays retain homegrown star Bichette, but they should win the bidding war for Tucker, a dynamic, two-way player who can complement face-of-the-franchise Vladimir Guerrero Jr."

What would the total bill come out to? The Athletic's Tim Britton projected earlier this offseason that Tucker would command a 12-year, $460 million commitment, while Bichette was tabbed to get eight years, $212 million.

It's a big number, but it's also less than what Juan Soto got from the New York Mets last offseason and Shohei Ohtani from the Dodgers the offseason prior, and there was no indication that the Blue Jays were scared off by the price tag in either case.

It's a popular sentiment to call the American League wide-open these days, but if the Blue Jays somehow pulled both of these signings off, you'd be hard-pressed to name any other team as the favorite.

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