After defeating a formidable Toronto Blue Jays team, who better to look at when it comes to rubbing salt on the wound than MLB’s new Evil Empire? After a successful repeat campaign, the LA Dodgers had their sights on Bo Bichette. But if anything, the Blue Jays’ latest move has forced them to hold their horses.

“The Blue Jays officially make Bo Bichette a qualifying offer, as expected,” Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith confirmed today.

Under MLB’s qualifying offer system, teams can extend a one-year deal to a free agent at a fixed salary. In this case, it is $22.025 million for 2026. If the player accepts, he stays for one more year; if he declines, he hits free agency and his former team earns draft-pick compensation when he signs elsewhere. With the decision, the Jays are not going to let their franchise cornerstone go anywhere.

With their season ending and Toronto not extending Bichette’s contract, the Dodgers came out as the early favorites to land the shortstop. According to The Sporting Tribune, they sit at 5/2 odds (+250) to sign Bichette, the shortest odds of any team. And the interest makes sense.

Bichette torched their pitching during the World Series, hitting .348 with a .923 OPS, and who can forget that three-run homer off Shohei Ohtani! So if you can’t beat him, get him, right?

The Blue Jays, however, seem inclined to put their star player’s wishes first.

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Throughout the playoffs, when he was asked about a potential last run with the only team he has known throughout his professional career, Bichette had only one response: “I want to stay here.”

However, when the team approached him with an extension request back in Spring, he was more focused on helping the team make a deeper run this season. Although he was out of the lineup for both the ALDS and the ALCS with his knee injury, he suffered in September, the Blue Jays ran all the way to Game 7 of the World Series.

But through it all, the team and GM John Schneider made it clear that they wanted the shortstop to remain with them. His resume is reason enough.

Before his season was cut short, he was hitting .311/.357/.483 with 44 doubles, 18 home runs, and 94 RBIs. This is a strong bounce-back outing after that rather frustrating 2024. And as a career .294 hitter, he has built a rep as one of the league’s best contact hitters.

“So as we go through the off-season planning, I’m sure that’ll be factored in,” the Jays president, Mark Shapiro, stated how crucial it is to bring the 27-year-old. “I reflected on his ability and toughness and desire to be on the field and the condition he was in during the postseason, and his ability to still provide some of the most important lift, you know, in the World Series.”

Bo Bichette, who is turning 28 years old in March, is undoubtedly one of the most coveted names on the free-agent market right now. That’s why The Athletic’s Tim Britton projects him to get an eight-year, $212 million deal this offseason. This is also a figure that dwarfs Willy Adames’s $182 million deal from the San Francisco Giants last winter.

Teams, though, seem to be ready to pay top dollar for Bichette’s bat and his steady production. And for the Dodgers, who have the deepest pockets, it doesn’t really seem far-fetched. But they have a plan after signing him.

They could slide him to second or third base. In fact, ESPN speculates this positional change might be there no matter which team he plays for. If it’s LA, they would be adding even more firepower to the lineup with Bichette. This is precisely why many fans and analysts continue to call for a salary cap in baseball. But for now, the Toronto Blue Jays are sending a message: if LA wants Bichette, they will have to pay for him.

This offseason clash has officially begun!

If not Toronto or LA, Bo Bichette can help end the 16-year World Series drought

After another bitter collapse to the Jays in the postseason that extended their WS drought to 16 years, the Yankees were forced to face one truth: their once-feared dynasty is now history. Now, they are entering the rebuilding phase, and at the top of their wish list, no doubt, is Bichette. If he lands in the Bronx, it would change the infield completely.

It would mean that the Yankees could displace Anthony Volpe, who had a rough campaign as a shortstop. His postseason struggles—a .192 average with 16 strikeouts—combined with his American League-high 19 regular-season errors, have left the team with no choice but to explore other options. And according to many, Bichette could be the solution and also a powerhouse to back up Aaron Judge.

Judge has been carrying the team alone on his shoulders for far too long, and they are now over-reliant on him. After him, Bellinger brings the offense, but he is headed to free agency now, leaving a hole in the lineup. One that Bichette could fill. It does scream a ‘Yankee moment,’ doesn’t it? And if anything, for the Yankees, it’s about their reputation. They need key players like Bichette, Bregman, and more to revive the Yankee mystique.