Blue Jays sign Bichette to multi-year contract: report

Feb 8 2023, 3:29 pm

Bo Bichette is sticking around with the Toronto Blue Jays.

Per Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith, Bichette has reportedly signed a multi-year contract with Toronto, as the last major piece of the roster left unsigned heading into the 2023 season.

Bichette and Toronto were set to go to arbitration this month, with the gap between player and team ask reportedly the largest in the league.

“While details have not yet been made public, it’s believed to be a three-year term. That would buy out all three of Bichette’s arbitration years and ensure he never has to go to a hearing with the team that drafted him in 2016,” Nicholson-Smith wrote for Sportsnet.

Bichette’s camp reportedly asked for $7.5 million on a one-year deal, while the Blue Jays filed at $5 million on a one-year, per ESPN’s Jeff Passan back in January.

Bichette had a batting average of .290 with 189 hits, 24 homers, 93 RBIs and 91 runs scored in 159 games in 2022. For the second year in a row, Bichette topped the American League in hits, also doing so with 191 hits in 2021.

Bichette makes up a Blue Jays starting infield consisting of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Santiago Espinal and Matt Chapman, with Whit Merrifield, Cavan Biggio, Brandon Belt, and Otto Lopez occupying the backup spots.

A 2016 second-round pick of Toronto, Bichette has grown into one of the Blue Jays’ most popular players during his time in the big leagues.

In Bichette’s four seasons for the Jays, he has a .297 batting average, 478 hits, 69 homers, 239 RBIs and 262 runs scored since making his major league debut in 2019.

Adam LaskarisAdam Laskaris

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