On Wednesday, MLB.com Blue Jays beat reporter Keegan Matheson held an Ask Me Anything on Reddit with Blue Jays fans at r/TorontoBlueJays. This mailbag features questions and answers from there. The full AMA can be read here.
Questions and responses have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is signed, what's your read on Bo Bichette's next contract?
Broadly speaking, it still doesn't sound like there's anything active happening there, and there hasn't been in a while. Even though I'm a big believer that Bo is exactly the player he's flashed at his peak, I understand that the last year makes it difficult to pin down a value on him in extension talks. I think this still heads to free agency, but that doesn't rule the Blue Jays out. Two things on my mind about this lately:
- Bo¡¯s defence looks better. I haven't had a reason to write about his defence (or talk about it on TV) in ages, which is great news for him. I think he can avoid the "is he a shortstop?" conversation at this point, which will do him wonders in free agency. If he puts up an .800+ OPS and a "normal" season, he'll have teams lining up.
- The Vladdy extension matters. I've rarely covered a player who chooses their words more carefully and speaks with more intention than Bo. When he keeps saying that he and Vladdy want to play their entire careers together ... listen to him.
¡ How likely is it we see those bigger names actually sign now that Vladdy is cemented in the lineup for a decade-plus? What skills make the most sense?
Vladdy changes the perception of Toronto completely. But even with that said, it's not like the Blue Jays are a bottom-rung team with a $70 million payroll. They were already coming close with legitimate pursuits of the two highest-paid players in MLB history ... and just signed the third. If you're a free agent, you notice that.
This won't quite reach NBA levels, where players want to join LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo or Victor Wembanyama, but it's going to matter. This past winter, I had to say on 500 radio appearances that free agents looking at the Blue Jays don't know what their future will be, which could have lost them some tiebreakers. Now, they know exactly how it looks ... and can guarantee that ownership will continue to spend.
And yes. Power, power and power. (And a big-name starter to continue this rotation's window).
If you had to pick one of the current Jays players to pick your Mom up at the airport, which one would it be and why?
Love this question. Three answers:
- Alan Roden -- He would be there early and be very nice to her.
- Bowden Francis -- Because he'd be very kind, but also because I'd love to hear the story.
- Bichette -- Her favourite player.
Which Jays prospect have you still not given up on despite them moving on or aging out of prospect status?
I'll cheat here a bit and steal from the category of "losing hype" -- Ricky Tiedemann (No. 4).
I know that injuries have derailed a lot of his momentum, but he's still just 22. He could go three more years without picking up a baseball and I'd still believe in his talent.
He's such a prospect lesson, though. All of the physical talent in the world doesn't matter if you're not healthy. When Ricky showed up in camp last year, it was one of the most jarring physical jumps I've seen. He looked like Bane. In hindsight, he may have been pushing his body further than the human body is capable of going. When I saw him in Dunedin this spring, he looked more natural and athletic -- and just as important, he seemed happy, free, excited.
Maybe this ends up being a bullpen conversation in a year or two, where he could be dominant immediately. I'll always remember that spring start in Dunedin when he touched 99 and struck out Javier B¨¢ez. There have been a few live BP sessions on the backfields I've seen, too, that blew people away. Baseball is full of prospects who could never quite wrangle their talent, but it's just too tantalizing here. And at 22? There's still so much time.
Read the rest of the questions and answers -- and there are a lot of them -- here in the Reddit AMA thread at r/TorontoBlueJays.