![\"Toronto](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/GettyImages-2243114110-e1768749385815.jpg\")
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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tGetty\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
Blue Jays get surprising news on Bo Bichette.<\/p>\n
The Toronto Blue Jays<\/a> reportedly had no plans to bring back Bo Bichette.<\/p>\n Bichette had been a key part<\/a> of Toronto\u2019s team for years, and he had said he wanted to return. Yet, he ended up signing a three-year, $126 million deal with the New York Mets<\/a>.<\/p>\n Following Bichette\u2019s signing with the Mets, Blue Jays insider Steve Simmons of The Toronto Sun reported the team had no interest in bringing him back.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Blue Jays didn\u2019t lose out on Bo Bichette. They were never in the game,\u201d Simmons wrote<\/a> on Sunday. \u201cThat was their choice \u2014 not your choice, necessarily. It was the New York Mets who chose to pay stupid short-term money for Bichette.<\/p>\n \u201cJust as it was the Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> who chose to pay stupid short-term money for free agent Kyle Tucker. The Jays\u2019 offer for Bichette, if there was one \u2014 and we\u2019re not certain there was \u2014 was nowhere in that league. Not term, not money, not anything.\u201d<\/p>\n The Blue Jays not having interest in Bichette is a bit of a surprise, as he has been a key figure for the team. As well as being a fan-favorite.<\/p>\n Yet, it appears Toronto decided to go in a different direction early in the offseason, and Bichette was never in the Blue Jays\u2019 plans.<\/p>\n \u201cThe truth is: Your Blue Jays didn\u2019t want Bichette at the beginning, or at the end,\u201d Simmons added.<\/p>\n Bichette hit .311 with 18 home runs and 94 RBIs<\/a> last season with the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n Bichette Was Never the Blue Jays \u2018Priority\u2019<\/p>\n Although Bichette is one of the top hitters in baseball, the Blue Jays decided long ago they weren\u2019t going to bring him back.<\/p>\n Simmons reports that Bichette was never considered a priority as the team focused on pitching and Kazuma Okamoto first.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can offer the world for Tucker, as the Jays probably did, and still come away empty-handed,\u201d Simmons wrote. \u201cIn the case of Bichette, though, he stopped being a priority long ago and became even less of one when the Jays signed Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto. Romantically, Jays fans wanted Bichette back in Toronto. He\u2019s been 1-2 on the Blue Jays popularity hit list for all of this decade. He\u2019s one of the great home-produced talents in franchise history. \u2026<\/p>\n \u201cBut the front office of Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins \u2014 neither of whom are particularly romantic in any kind of sporting way \u2014 never cared a whole lot for Bichette, going back to firing the scout who recommended drafting him years ago, and picking up the terrible contract of Andres Gimenez, knowing he could play shortstop once Bichette had left Toronto. And then signing Okamoto for $26 million less than Bichette wound up signing for in New York.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a bold choice from the Blue Jays not to make Bichette a priority, but Simmons believes the decision was made a long time ago. Which is why the team didn\u2019t try to re-sign him before the year, as they did with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who signed in April.<\/p>\n Bichette Wanted to Stay in Toronto<\/p>\n If Bichette had it his way, he likely would have signed with the Blue Jays a long time ago.<\/p>\n During his draft, Bichette reportedly told teams he wouldn\u2019t sign there as he wanted to go to Toronto. Then, throughout his time in Toronto, he has said he wanted to spend his entire career with the Blue Jays.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve said I want to be here from the beginning,\u201d Bichette\u00a0said<\/a> postgame after Game 7. \u2026 \u201cI\u2019ll remember this group forever. I think this group taught me what a team is. I think it\u2019s probably the most valuable lesson in my career, so they mean a ton to me.\u201d<\/p>\n However, that will no longer be the case as Bichette will play for the Mets in 2026.<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tCole Shelton<\/a> Cole Shelton covers the NHL, MLB and Cleveland Browns for Heavy.com. He has covered pro and college sports since 2016, including bylines at BJ Penn, USA Today, SB Nation, Rotowire, Canadian Baseball Network and more. More about Cole Shelton<\/a>\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\tMore Heavy on Blue Jays\n\t\t<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\tLoading more stories\n\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getty Blue Jays get surprising news on Bo Bichette. The Toronto Blue Jays reportedly had no plans to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419374,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-419373","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419373","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419373"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419373\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419374"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419373"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419373"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419373"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}