Report: Blue Jays Avoid Arbitration With Bo Bichette
Bo Bichette won't be going to arbitration after all.
The Blue Jays and Bichette have come to an agreement on a three-yearr deal, buying out multiple of the shortstop's arbitration eligible seasons, per Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith.
The contract will pay Bichette $33.6 million over the course of the three years and could reach $40.65 million in bonuses and escalators, Ken Rosenthal reports. The deal buys out all three of Bichette's arbitration years and will not impact his earliest free agency date.
The Blue Jays avoided arbitration with 11 of 12 eligible players earlier this offseason, and Bichette was the lone player slated to head to an arbitration hearing to determine his 2023 salary. An arbitrator was scheduled to decide between the Blue Jays' filed salary of $5 million and Bichette's $7.5 million. The gap between the two numbers was tied with Kyle Tucker's for the largest arbitration filing gap in baseball this year. Per Nicholson-Smith, Bichette's arbitration hearing was slated to occur on Thursday.
Bichette led the league in hits and earned MVP votes for a second straight year in 2022, posting a .290 batting average and an .802 OPS. Through his first two full seasons, Bichette has averaged 4.75 WAR per season, despite negative defensive WAR in 2022.
This year was Bichette's first offseason through the arbitration process, and he remains slated to hit free agency alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after the 2025 season, barring extensions.
