Strike 3: Bo Bichette was the length of a cleat away from becoming a World Series champion. Is there any reason at all he would even consider becoming a Colorado Rockie?
Stop laughing. Bear with me here. There’s a case to be made.
The All-Star son of former Rockies All-Star Dante Bichette is a free agent. His current/former team, the Toronto Blue Jays just barely lost one of the most amazing and entertaining World Series ever. Playing on an injured knee that needed more recovery time than the baseball calendar would allow, the younger Bichette’s 3-run Game 7 home run nearly made him a folk hero in Canada. It’s going to be tough for him to leave.
The smart money is on Bo ending up playing for new Atlanta Braves skipper Walt Weiss, a close friend of Dante’s and a team with a chance to rebound quickly and be in next season’s playoff race.
Then again, the younger Bichette did spend a small slice of his youth in the Rockies clubhouse, and he has mentioned before that at some point, he’d like to play for the Rockies.
Paul Depodesta and the Rockies brand new front office is supposed to be able to make the on-field baseball decisions. That would include, in theory, being able to sign a free agent or two to bolster what is an extremely young, inexperienced and generally punchless infield. Bichette – who blasted three home runs and drove in 10 runs when his Blue Jays were here for three games in early August, is a free agent. So there’s that.
Would out bidding Atlanta (and others) and signing Bichette have to break the bank? Yes. But could it be worth it? Yes.
Consider this: Rockies principal owner Dick Monfort wants a drawing card to keep filling the seats at Coors Field while the team rebuilds. Who better than the All-Star son of one of the franchise’s most popular players ever? Bichette would be worth a nice boost in ticket and jersey sales and give Monfort’s credibility a boost around here as well.
Another factor: DePodesta and his staff will have plenty of things to think about and plenty of questions to answer over the next few months. That includes figuring out what to do with permanently injured Kris Bryant and his albatross of a contract. Let’s just say that DePodesta can convince Bryant and his agent Scott Boras to accept a buyout that included lots of deferred money. Think Bobby Bonilla. Bryant gets everything that he’s owed, but spread out over the next 25 years or so. That would give the Rockies, who are already saving the $32 million they were going to be paying former Rockie Ryan McMahon over the next two seasons, some payroll flexibility. Maybe enough to sign Bichette?
It’s no secret that the Rockies offense hasn’t been close to what it can and needs to be, especially at Coors Field. Too many young players remain enamored with “launch angle” and the analytics behind it. Bichette is different. Coached by his father, who has long championed an emphasis on making solid contact with a flatter swing over trying to lift the ball all the time, Bichette would provide the kind of middle-of-the-order presence that the Rockies desperately need. Last season, he was MLB’s second most productive hitter on fastballs thrown at extremely high velocity.
He would feast at Coors Field, just like his dad did.
All that being said, and regardless of how much sense it would make for the Rockies, it’s more likely that Bo Bichette either re-signs with the Blue Jays so they can chase another World Series, or that he goes to the higher bidder like the Braves as perhaps the missing piece to that team’s title hopes. He’s just 27 years old. It’s tough to ask a player in his prime to voluntarily become part of what remains a long-term rebuilding project.
Could it happen? It’s possible, but highly unlikely. Sort of like a team that finished in last place the season before pushing the defending champions with the $200 million payroll into extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series.
Stranger things have happened.
