The things they have the audacity to ask of me better catch up with them eventually

Sometimes it's nice to be left on read

Bo Bichette scares me. That’s the whole lede.

Benny Fresh broke the news on Tuesday night that the Jays and Bichette had agreed to a multi-year contract, one that should eliminate the arbitration song-and-dance for the remainder of his arb-eligible years.

The reaction was mixed, with those who believe the relationship between player and club was poisoned beyond salvation dealt a tough blow. The acrimony! The resentment! The hurt feelings! Turns out it all goes away when you slide a $35 million under somebody’s nose.

There was disappointment among the contingent of fans hoping to see him locked into a lifetime contract or longer. The idea of Bichette wearing another jersey is abhorrent and upsetting to them, and they’re not wrong for thinking it.

For me, three years is great. Because I love the idea of 26-year old Bo playing a workable/passable/ambulatory shortstop and raking at the top (or middle) of the Blue Jays lineup while the prospect of a 30-year old second baseman Bo hacking his way to even longer boom-or-bust trends than we saw in 2022 is terrifying.

There is risk in Bichette. There is risk in every plate appearance and risk in every ground ball hit his way. His aging curve has a threatening aura, not unlike the memory of just about every plate appearance from April to August. He went dark for a long time in 2022, with only a thermonuclear September salvaging his overall numbers.

At the same time, there is risk in missing out on Bichette. There is risk in him becoming a free agent and walking straight into the lineup of an American League competitor, raking for them as he raked for the Blue Jays. There is risk in missing out on value by not getting his name on long term contract now rather than in two or three years if he finds a more “traditional” offensive approach. There is risk in cheaping out when impact players are hard to come by and replacements are hardly at the ready.

Who is Bo Bichette?

This question is at the crux of this internal debate, for me. As noted above, the band of possible outcomes for the Jays current shortstop is enormous.

Modern metrics take an unkind view of Bichette’s work at short. Baseball Prospectus just introduced a few fielding metric that is typically unkind to Bichette’s defense. It does not like his ability to convert batted balls into outs and it doesn’t think much of his arm, either. Range Out Score ranks him fifth worst among fielders with 600 innings at short, with the introductory post describing him as having “average Attempt Range but below-average execution.” His leaderboard peers are older players or young guys waiting for a position change.¹

Bichette’s future at the plate is decidedly murky. Not many players can make a go of the “swing at everything, walk almost never but still drive the baseball” approach, yet Bichette ranks among the 40 best hitters in the game over the last three seasons.

Take this quote from the 2022 Baseball Prospectus Annual player capsule on Bichette²:

“…his production speaks for itself and hints at another level just a few tweaks away. Would you teach it? You likely couldn't if you tried. Would you change it? Not on your life.”

There’s always hope. Can Bo mature like José Abreu? Abreu’s plate discipline numbers in his rookie year were very similar to those posted by Bichette in 2022. Abreu tightened his approach, chasing less and posting a career 133 wRC+ along the way.

What about Nick Castellanos, another free swinging maniac who has made it work to the point of earning plenty of money despite his numerous shortcomings? Is Bichette the Blue Jays modern day answer to Nomar Garciaparra? Is that praise or a criticism?!?

Can the Blue Jays afford to pay top dollar for Artisanal Jonathan Schoop to be their free swinging second baseman into his thirties? Can they afford NOT to pay a player as valuable and beloved as Bichette for the long haul, even if he’s “just” Wish.com Xander Bogaerts?

These are the difficult questions decided by folks with more info at their disposal than just a list of emails addresses. It’s not an easy decision and it’s not my money. Were it my money, I’d probably be inclined to give it to someone else. I could live with being wrong, content in the knowledge that Bichette’s best years were in a Blue Jays uniform. Call me a romantic but “the one that got away” has more appeal than “the one who stayed too long, to the regret of all involved.”

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For three seasons, this space tracked the progress of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. through the big leagues. It culminated with an MVP-quality season, one of the finest in Blue Jays history. It felt like as good a time as any to hang it up, because it started to feel like a bit of chore.

Having painted myself into a tidy content corner, I was not enamoured with the idea of continuing to find fresh angles to cover a now-established big leaguer, even if he had become one of the best in the game. It was just Another Thing I Committed To, even if all the pressure to produce new stories came from within.

With a year away from the newsletter, and now finding myself without a conduit for validation from strangers, it feels like a good opportunity to re-open this space and attack it with fresh eyes.

The plan is to allow space for any and all Blue Jays ideas that might rattle around in my head. Maybe more analysis-drive posts or more of the feelings-centric stuff that my old blog became a repository for, who knows?

There will be no paywalled posts. It was that pressure (“people are giving me money for this!”) that pushed me away last year. It’s going to be like that crappy boss you had two jobs ago: I need to be convinced that it’s my idea to write a post or record a mini-podcast, not the brainchild some other, smarter, person.

No promises, no expectations. Here’s hoping everyone has a good time and the Blue Jays give us all enough to think about that the ideas flow freely. This will be an Ohtani-free zone, for those wondering. I promise.

Thanks to those who have been along for the better part of 15 years and for anyone reading for the first time.

I’m hiding behind fair use for the photos in the header and such. Apologies to the rights holders.

1. Hint hint nudge nudge

2. Full disclosure - I wrote this!