Any real chance of a Bo Bichette return to Toronto in 2027 is slipping away.
Dan Bartels of the New York Post reported that “The tide appears turning towards Bo Bichette opting into his $42M contract with the Mets. Has 5 days after the World Series ends to make it official. Likely easy after a .702 OPS season.”
That lines up with where Bichette’s market seems to be after a season that was solid, but nowhere near the level that would push teams to chase him at that price. Bichette hit the open market with plenty of attention, but the Blue Jays never matched the Mets’ offer, and the result was a three-year, $126 million deal in Queens that included opt-outs every year.
Bichette made it clear all offseason that Toronto still mattered to him. He said he and the Blue Jays stayed in touch, but the talks never got serious enough to bring him back.
"Me and the Blue Jays were in touch all offseason. They showed interest, but at the end of the day, it just became clear for me that this was the decision I needed to make."
That offseason decision came after Bichette had come agonizingly close to becoming a Blue Jays legend for life, thanks to his home run in Game 7 of the World Series. Instead, he headed to the Mets and spent 2026 putting together a year that was useful, but not remotely dominant.
The raw numbers look familiar at first glance. He finished with 18 home runs and 76 RBIs, almost matching his 2025 totals of 18 homers and 78 RBIs. But the rest of the stat line told a different story: a .260/.312/.390 slash line, a .702 OPS, 127 strikeouts in 160 games and a 96 wRC+.
That was a clear step down from what he did in his final year with Toronto, when he played 139 games, hit .311/.357/.483 with an .840 OPS and a 134 wRC+. He also finished with the third-most hits in MLB in 2025, even though a leg injury knocked him out for almost all of September.
There were still some encouraging signs in 2026. Bichette’s second half was better than his first, and he gradually settled in as the season went along. He also held his own after moving to third base, posting +1 outs above average, a fielding run value of zero and a 3.1 defensive rating on FanGraphs.
Even with that improvement, the bigger picture was pretty simple: on the open market, and with a lockout looming and possible changes to players’ earning power ahead, very few teams were going to treat a 28-year-old coming off that season like a $42 million player.
So the most likely outcome now is Bichette staying put, at least for 2027. That’s a huge win for him, his family and his agent. For Blue Jays fans, it probably means the reunion window has closed - and if Toronto and Bichette ever line up again, it won’t be soon.
In Other News...
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The catch is the same one that always follows this sort of idea. He is coming off a season slowed by injuries, his production has dipped, and any move would have to make sense for a front office weighing upside against risk. There is also the question of whether the price and timing line up, which leaves this one in the familiar category of intriguing, but far from settled. [Read more 🡒]
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Bowden put a price tag on the chase as well, projecting Suzuki for a five-year, $120 million deal and Itoh for two years at $22 million. The bigger question for Toronto is which direction it leans if it gets into the mix, since both players would address different needs and both would draw competition from other teams expected to be involved. [Read more 🡒]
Blue Jays Still Have Two Huge Roster Questions Before 2027
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Among the names that fit the profile are a needed left-handed arm for the rotation and an impact outfield bat, the kind of additions that can change the direction of a winter if Toronto decides to spend. But all of that hangs over a bigger unknown, since the next collective bargaining agreement could reshape the market before the Jays ever get to make those calls, and a possible lockout only adds more uncertainty to an already fluid 2027 picture. [Read more 🡒]