The Toronto Blue Jays and Bo Bichette are heading to arbitration after failing to reach an agreement ahead of Friday’s deadline.
The shortstop slashed .290/.333/.469 with 24 homers, 13 steals and 93 RBIs in 159 games during the 2022 season. Bichette earned $723,800 last season and won’t be eligible for free agency until 2026.
The Blue Jays reached deals with 11 players on Friday including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, Danny Jansen and Jordan Romano.
Toronto has not gone to arbitration with a player since 2019, when reliever Ryan Tepera was awarded a $1.525 million salary.
The team also won arbitration cases against Marcus Stroman and Roberto Osuna in 2018.
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MLB teams had until 1 p.m. ET on Friday to exchange figures with arbitration-eligible players. Both sides can agree on a deal anytime before a hearing begins, but the Blue Jays are a “file and trial” team, meaning that they will only discuss multi-year deals after Friday’s deadline.
Arbitration hearings will take place between Jan. 30 and Feb. 17. MLB Trade Rumors has Bichette projected to make $6.1 million in arbitration.
