Blue Jays had no intention of bringing back Bo Bichette

The Toronto Blue Jays didn't lose Bo Bichette, they let him walk away in free agency.

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The Blue Jays didn’t lose out on Bo Bichette. They were never in the game.

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That was their choice — not your choice, necessarily.

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It was the New York Mets who chose to pay stupid short-term money for Bichette. Just as it was the Los Angeles Dodgers who chose to pay stupid short-term money for free agent Kyle Tucker.

The Jays’ offer for Bichette, if there was one — and we’re not certain there was — was nowhere in that league. Not term. Not money. Not anything.

Philadelphia made a more reasonable pitch for Bichette, reasonable by standards from afar, offering $200 million over seven seasons rather than the gulp, $42 million for each of three seasons, with opt-outs, that the Mets wound up paying.

The Phillies, general managed by Don Mattingly’s son, would go to just more than $28 million per season in their offer for Bichette, which seemed reasonable for a quality hitter but a defensive player of some liability. Jays fans shouldn’t care how much any of these contracts are signed for, really. There is no salary cap in baseball, it’s not your money they’re spending and there seems to be no salary cap involving the pseudo Jays owner Edward Rogers.

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You can offer the world for Tucker, as the Jays probably did, and still come away empty-handed. In the case of Bichette, though, he stopped being a priority long ago and became even less of one when the Jays signed Japanese third baseman Kazuma Okamoto.

Romantically, Jays fans wanted Bichette back in Toronto. He’s been 1-2 on the Blue Jays popularity hit list for all of this decade. He’s one of the great home-produced talents in franchise history.

But the front office of Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins — neither of whom are particularly romantic in any kind of sporting way — never cared a whole lot for Bichette, going back to firing the scout who recommended drafting him years ago, and picking up the terrible contract of Andres Gimenez, knowing he could play shortstop once Bichette had left Toronto. And then signing Okamoto for $26 million less than Bichette wound up signing for in New York.

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a talent such as this, not for fans who grasp on to such belief with emotion.

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The truth is: Your Blue Jays didn’t want Bichette at the beginning, or at the end.

Is Cody Bellinger even worth considering?

If Bichette’s three-run home run off Shohei Ohtani held up in Game 7 of the World Series — as it should have —the Jays would have had no choice but to bring him back. Joe Carter doesn’t hit the Series winner and gets shown the door …. One thought the Blue Jays can live with: They played 11 playoff games against the Yankees and Mariners without Bichette and scored 71 runs. That’s more than six a game without your most consistent hitter … When Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signed for $500 million — an average of $35 million a season — did anyone have Bichette making more, short-term, on their bingo card? … The real issue for the Jays heading into next season: How many of the surprises of last summer will continue to surprise into the future? … The Jays could still use another late-inning reliever … If this were the end of Bichette’s or Tucker’s careers, would either be considered a Hall of Fame lock? My thinking is no. It must drive Hall of Famers crazy to see more than $100 million combined thrown at Bichette and Tucker for a single season and a market almost certainly heading for lockout in the game they love … Cody Bellinger is still available in free agency. He hit .188 against the Blue Jays in the Divisional Series. The Yankees will overpay to get him and he may be no better than a recovered Anthony Santander … One of manager John Schneider’s strengths last season was his ability to move people in and out of positions and places in the batting order: It meant everybody was available just about every night. Had the Jays signed Tucker and not traded Santander, Schneider would have had little room to move players around. Not signing Tucker and not bothering with Bichette may give the Jays an opportunity to maintain their everyman culture … Sometimes, instincts are worth trusting: When Bichette wrapped his arms around Mattingly in the dugout after the World Series defeat, and it looked to me like a photo of both men saying goodbye, I wrote that at the time and got crushed for it.

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Maurice, Cooper deserve first coach award

Combined, Jon Cooper and Paul Maurice have won four Stanley Cups as coaches, been to seven Cup finals and neither has ever won the coach-of-the-year award in the NHL. Cooper is a terrific choice this year, hanging around first place in the East without the future Hall of Famer, Victor Hedman, on defence. And should the Florida Panthers somehow make the playoffs having come this far without captain Sasha Barkov and edgy winger Matthew Tkachuk, Maurice would be deserving as well … Sometimes, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman must cringe at his own words when he speaks in public. When he was introducing Buffalo as the next home of the NHL draft, he called Sabres owner Terry Pegula, standing beside him, one of the great owners in the sport. That’s nice. But also chuckle-worthy. In Pegula’s 14 full seasons owning the Sabres, Buffalo has yet to make the playoffs. Wonder what a terrible owner looks like from Bettman’s point of view …. If the injured Brayden Point isn’t well enough to play for Team Canada in Milan, there are some fascinating candidates to replace him. Mark Scheifele has been red-hot lately in Winnipeg as has Zach Hyman in Edmonton. And while Sam Bennett’s skill set is different from Point’s, he deserves recognition, as does Seth Jarvis, both were part of the 4 Nations Canadian team. It’s a tough call for GM Doug Armstrong if Point can’t play … The Montreal Canadiens are the historical clubhouse leaders in pre-game ceremonies in hockey, but the rival Boston Bruins are closing in. The pre-game ceremony to retire Zdeno Chara’s number was pure class. Every franchise would be blessed to have a Chara in their stable. Hearing players and coaches talk about him was emotional, even if you don’t care about the Bruins or Chara. … Sad to see Phil Esposito not sitting with Bobby Orr and Johnny Bucyk and so many great former Bruins players … And while watching the Chara ceremony, I kept thinking: ‘What are people going to say about Auston Matthews 10 years from now?’ It can’t be a Chara-like conversation … The big game between Vegas and the Leafs on Thursday was supposed to be about Toronto and Marner and all that jazz. And all I kept seeing was Jack Eichel making great plays as the best player on the ice for either team.

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It’s still hard to assess Darko Rajakovic

Bob Pulford often mumbled as if his mouth were full of chewing tobacco. The old joke you used to hear about the late Chicago GM: Pully walked into a bar and they cancelled happy hour. Later, the same joke was used with the name changed to Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek … The hockey television series Heated Rivalry is doing big business on Crave (in Canada) and HBO Max (in the United States). Those who say you can’t sell hockey in the U.S. are being proven wrong once again … When Paul Godfrey ran the Blue Jays, he worked hard to get them moved out of the American League East. It never happened. Now that the Jays are spending along with the Yankees and Red Sox, nobody really wants to move but commissioner Rob Manfred wants to see the Jays in a division with Detroit, Minnesota and Milwaukee. How do you put the Jays with Detroit and not with Cleveland? That’s a great division for those wanting summer road trips in their car … At what point in time will we know what kind of coach Darko Rajakovic is? How often do the Raptors ever have their five starters together for a game? It’s frustrating when you think the team is capable of doing something better, but every night they’re missing one or two necessary players … Say this for Raptors fans: They cherish Kyle Lowry, who was a fine NBA player with the Raps, but nothing close to a superstar. Fans want Lowry’s jersey retired, a statue built, downtown steak for life. That’s a little much. He’ll be a Hall of Fame player because just about everybody with a pulse gets into the Basketball Hall of Fame …The Leafs have 31 points in their past 23 games. That’s a 110-point pace. As troubled as the lineup may be — and it is troubled — when their goaltending is relatively decent, the Leafs remain a tough out … And this was strange: Two Canadian teams, the Leafs and Winnipeg Jets, were the featured game Saturday night on the NHL Network, shown only in the United States … As of Sunday morning, there were eight head coach openings in the NFL, which means there are likely 16 offensive and defensive coordinator openings, as well. That’s 24 significant coaching jobs available and not nearly the same number of qualified candidates … If anyone deserved to be a coach for life, wasn’t that Mike Tomlin? He made the playoffs in Pittsburgh the past three seasons with a finished Aaron Rodgers, a more finished Russell Wilson and a never will be, Kenny Pickett, as his quarterbacks … This was written before Buffalo played in Denver on Saturday afternoon: The winner of the Bills-Broncos game will make it to the Super Bowl.

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Caitlin impacting her sport like no one else

On Tuesday, the newest members of the Baseball Hall of Fame will be introduced, if there are any. There are no standout sure things this year: Carlos Beltran and Andruw Jones are possibilities, and I voted for both of them. I think I’ve voted for Jones nine times now as he is one of the best outfielders I’ve ever seen. For some reason, defence does not get the respect it should receive from Hall voters. If you hit a ton but can’t play the field, you get Hall consideration. If you play fabulous defence — Jones won 10 Gold Glove awards — that doesn’t seem to count for much. It’s why I vote for Omar Vizquel most years. Been watching the American League closely for almost 50 years and haven’t seen a shortstop better defensively than Vizquel. He may never get elected, but he’d be in my Hall of Fame every day … In the two years before Caitlin Clark joined the Indiana Fever, the team averaged 4,060 per game in attendance and 1,775 in 2022. Since Clark turned pro, the Fever has drawn 17,035 a game followed by 16,650 this season. Franchise value has gone from $90 million to $370 million. A question worth asking: Has any athlete before Clark, including Tiger Woods and Serena Williams, impacted her own sport and business the way in which Caitlin has? … Is there a worse team name in sports than the Utah Mammoth? … l’m easily entertained: I try not to miss David Alter’s online videos where he’s rating dining quality in NHL media rooms, which is almost an oxymoron … Why did Sheldon Keefe never use Mitch Marner at centre? If he needed a centre, he preferred William Nylander. And he never thought Leafs were deep enough on the wing to allow him to move Marner into the middle … This is how small baseball is at this time of year in America: Tucker and Bichette sign huge free-agent contracts, but they fall well behind the U.S. college football championship game on Monday night, the NFL playoffs on the weekend, men’s and women’s basketball, a point-shaving scandal, John Harbaugh getting hired in New York, and barely a word anywhere about how bad Jonathan Quick is playing for the Rangers … Marc Mallette, the first full-time cameraman hired by TSN, is retiring after 40-plus years with the network. He will certainly be missed by any of us who spent time with him, around him or being photographed by him … Note to readers: My online X (Twitter) account, which we’ve used to exchange ideas, communicate and occasionally argue for the past 17 years, has been compromised. I have since been locked out of my ­@simmonssteve account. As of Friday, anything posted on there is no longer mine. It took me almost two decades to build a Twitter following and I’m not certain, at this point, whether to start from the beginning all over again or whether this problem can be repaired… Happy birthday to Tucker (29), Mark Messier (65), Jeremy Roenick (56), Dwyane Wade (44), Pinball Clemons (61), Alex Pietrangelo (36), Max Fried (32), Jake Paul (29), Oleksandr Usyk (39), Gary Trent Jr., (27), M.L. Harris (72) and Ted DiBiase (72) … And hey, whatever became of Jerome Bettis?

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