Silence lingered in the Toronto Blue Jays clubhouse as Bo Bichette sat hunched in front of his locker. The franchise staple stared around an emptying room, only rising as manager John Schneider approached. Hours after Toronto’s Game 7 loss in the 2025 World Series, the two leaned into a long-lingering hug. A thin smile broke on Bichette’s face as Schneider whispered a few final words.
That was goodbye, even if neither realized it at the time.
It was farewell to the only franchise Bichette had ever known, a departure finalized as the 28-year-old infielder agreed on Friday to a three-year, $126 million deal with the New York Mets. It was goodbye, as well, to a period of Blue Jays baseball built around a pair of long-haired prospects, Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr., that allowed a fanbase to again dream of real success.
“We’ve been linked at the hip,” Bichette said of Guerrero last summer, “definitely.”
With Bichette’s departure, the Blue Jays now enter a new era. They hope to build on the last.
Together, “Vlad and Bo” fulfilled their potential and lifted Toronto back to the postseason. The duo grew into lineup staples and shifted franchise expectations. They provided a playoff-hungry city with October opportunity and set sights on a new standard — playoff success — nearly accomplishing the championship goal in 2025.
Bichette stood in the Rogers Centre batter’s box for an extra moment, hours before his clubhouse embrace with Schneider. While a soaring third-inning liner sailed to the outfield, Bichette was unbothered by his ailing knee as he swaggered into a trot and flicked his bat to the ground. Shohei Ohtani, the Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher, turned his neck in dismay.
For five innings in Game 7, Bichette’s three-run World Series homer appeared as one of the most significant hits in franchise history. Even with the Dodgers’ late comeback, it may remain the defining swing of Bichette’s Blue Jays career.
“For a guy that has been a staple of this team for the past six or seven years, to have Vlad intentionally walked, and then he went dead center on the first pitch, it was so fitting,” Schneider said after Game 7. “It felt right at the time.”
That swing was the culmination of Toronto’s late 2010s rebuild, with Bichette and Guerrero at the center. When the shortstop joined the Blue Jays in the second round of the 2016 draft, the franchise had a $126 million Opening Day payroll filled with an aging core that was soon to be broken apart. He watched, months after his selection, as José Bautista, Josh Donaldson and Edwin Encarnacion led Toronto to the American League Championship Series. Then, he watched them leave.
Bichette, Guerrero and the rest of the organization spent years trying to get the team back to those postseason heights. After multiple devastating October defeats, they finally lifted the Blue Jays even higher.
Now, Bichette leaves a fresh peak for a new iteration of Blue Jays to chase.
Even hours before Bichette agreed to the three-year deal with the Mets, some in the organization hoped the infielder would return. But in the weeks ahead of his signing, league and team sources became skeptical he would sign back with Toronto. The Jays, looking to add a cornerstone outfielder amid a high-spending offseason, turned increasing attention to Kyle Tucker, who ultimately signed with the Dodgers on Thursday. Hours later, Bichette’s exit was formalized.
Departures occur often in baseball, but some simply weigh heavier. Bichette’s, after seven big-league seasons and 904 hits for the Blue Jays, is one of those existential exits. When he arrived, the Blue Jays were months from a full-on rebuild. The franchise waited eight years for Bichette and Guerrero to climb the minors together and build on what came before.
Now, though, the new heights seem nearer. Even after losing out on Tucker and watching Bichette depart, the Blue Jays may enter 2026 with the American League’s highest payroll and a real shot to win the league again. Guerrero, signed for 14 more seasons, remains. After adding Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce, the rotation is overflowing.
Bichette spent seven seasons in Toronto, helping set a new goal for the modern Blue Jays. The franchise will now try to accomplish it without him.