TBNL: Bo Bichette should be open to a defensive change

Marcus Semien’s career had been played almost exclusively at shortstop before he shifted to second base with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2021, making room for a 23-year-old Bo Bichette to start at short in his first full season in the majors. Semien would end up winning his first Gold Glove Award that season and finished third in AL MVP voting after hitting .265/.334/.538 (131 OPS+) in 652 PA with 39 doubles, 45 HR, and 102 RBI.

The bat was certain to draw interest on the free agent market after the season, but it was the position change that opened the door for Semien to land a seven-year, $175 million contract from the Texas Rangers.

That winter’s class of free agent hitters included several players, but all of them were infielders: Corey Seager, Carlos Correa, Trevor Story, and Semien. The Rangers were aggressive in improving their infield and lineup, agreeing to deals with Semien and Seager (10 years, $325 million) on the same day.

Now it’s Bichette who should consider the same move.

The now 27-year-old’s bat doesn’t raise many concerns. Bichette is a .294/.337/.469 (121 OPS+) hitter over his seven-year career who twice led the AL in hits and averages 41 doubles, 24 homers, and 13 steals a season. This past season marked a career-low 14.5% strikeout rate.

Defensively, however, the story is different after 716 career starts at shortstop (plus another 967 in the minor leagues). Bichette has never had strong fundamentals at the position and is limited by an arm likely better suited for second base (he played there for 30 games in the minors, with the last appearance coming in 2019). His range has only worsened with age, particularly late this season, as a knee sprain limited his ability to run and ultimately kept him off the Blue Jays’ playoff roster.

This offseason’s free agent class of infielders doesn’t include many offense-changing possibilities (Gleyber Torres, Ha-Seong Kim, and Bichette are arguably the most intriguing options). Showing a willingness to change positions at this point might be the best move for Bichette, both from a financial and logical viewpoint.

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