Top Landing Spots for Free Agent Bo Bichette

Atlanta Braves

Prior to Monday, the Braves were a logical team to bid for Bichette’s services. Now, they are not only a logical landing spot, they are a very likely one.

If there’s any team that needs better shortstop play in 2026, it’s the Braves. Their combined 0.5 fWAR among primary shortstops ranked second to last in MLB, while their wRC+ of just 59 ranked dead last.

Nick Allen handled a majority of the reps at the position in 2025. But while he was a Gold Glove finalist at the position, he put up extremely subpar production at the plate, slashing .221/.284/.251 with a 53 wRC+ in 135 games.

For a bit there, it looked like the solution might come from within. In September, Atlanta claimed Ha-Seong Kim off waivers from the Rays, he of a career .242/.324/.377 slash line with 84 doubles, 52 homers, 217 RBIs, and 84 steals in his five-year MLB career. Oh, and he also owns a Gold Glove.

Then, on Monday, as a surprise to some, he declined his 2026 option and became a free agent. With no clear option in the pipeline, that positions the Braves as clear buyers for a new shortstop.

Toronto Blue Jays

The Braves are a logical landing spot for Bichette, but reunions are commonplace in MLB free agency. Thus, the Blue Jays are the other team very likely to be bidding against Atlanta.

While Bichette was on the IL at the end of this season, Ernie Clement and Andrés Giménez picked up most of the slack. While Clement was a postseason star, the pair have been no more than average offensive producers for their careers.

The Blue Jays do have a shortstop prospect on the cusp of the big leagues in 24-year-old Josh Kasevich, No. 4 on our most recent ranking of Toronto’s top prospects. He has excellent bat-to-ball skills but not much power, so it’s far from a certainty he develops into a Bichette-level producer.

Toronto has certainly been willing to pay to assemble a team worthy of making a deep run. Alejandro Kirk, Jeff Hoffman, Anthony Santander, and, of course, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. all recently got big money.

That core plus Bichette earned the Blue Jays the No. 1 seed in the AL and had them two outs away from the third title in franchise history. What better reason to run it back by re-signing their star shortstop to a long-term deal?

New York Yankees

Few thought the Yankees would be in a position where they would be considering their future at shortstop going into 2026. But it has to at least be a consideration after how 2025 went.

Anthony Volpe has been manning the shortstop position for the Yanks for the last three seasons. His early impression there was great, as he won a Gold Glove in 2023, his rookie season.

Despite that defense, the former No. 1 Yankees prospect’s offense has yet to catch up. In three seasons, he has just a .222/.283/.379 slash line and an 85 wRC+ that ties for 204th out of 229 qualified players in the last three years combined.

Volpe is projected around the $4 million mark (per MLB Trade Rumors) for his first run through arbitration this offseason. That’s a drop in the bucket for New York. But after a disappointing season that saw them easily dispatched by the Blue Jays in the ALDS, maybe they set expectations higher for 2026.

One big thing to consider is the team’s top prospect, George Lombard Jr., Just Baseball’s No. 23 overall prospect. His presence may leave the team reluctant to commit long-term to a player like Bichette.

But with second baseman Jazz Chisolm Jr. set to become a first-time free agent in 2027, which is when Lombard could be ready, perhaps there’s a scenario where both players could coexist. Of course, that’s all dependent on whether the team decides that Volpe is still their shortstop of the future.

Detroit Tigers

The Tigers are in a bit of a weird spot when it comes to the shortstop position. They got awful production there in 2025 but have a clear heir apparent that is only a couple of years away.

Detroit shortstops were only marginally better than those of the Braves last season. They tied Atlanta for second-worst fWAR in MLB at 0.5, while their combined 72 wRC+ was third worst, above just the Braves and the cellar-dwelling Rockies.

It was Trey Sweeney and Javier Báez who played most of the innings over at short. The former had an awful .196/.258/.291 slash line in 118 games on the season, while the latter had a bounce-back season but was a true utility man in 2025 and doesn’t necessarily have a defined home on defense.

Waiting in the wings is Kevin McGonigle. Just Baseball’s top prospect in all of baseball has been excellent since being drafted 37th overall in 2023, but he hit Double-A for the first time this season and played just 46 games there. As great as he is, it’ll be a bit until he hits the majors.

Like with Volpe and the Yankees, there is a world where he and Bichette could co-exist on the Tigers, especially since the latter could eventually find himself at second due to his defense. That could be particularly helpful, since last year’s second baseman, Gleyber Torres, is a free agent, leaving the team’s middle infield short-term future a bit up in the air.

Los Angeles Dodgers

When it comes to the Dodgers, it doesn’t always matter where they have a need on the field. They will do what they need to do to make it work as long as it’s for the good of the team.

Take Mookie Betts. The long-time Red Sox outfielder came to Los Angeles in 2020 and has since played 118 games at second and 229 games at shortstop, his current defensive home.

The Dodgers do have some potential openings coming in the infield. 36-year-old utility man Miguel Rojas is a free agent, though he has stated that he hopes to come back to retire a Dodger after 2026. Third baseman Max Muncy has a $10 million club option that has a good chance of being picked up.

Left fielder Michael Conforto is also headed to free agency, and his position is where this year’s right fielder, Teoscar Hernández, played a majority of his games in 2024. Theoretically, a move back to left for Hernández and a shift of Betts back to right could open the shortstop spot for Bichette.

It would require a lot of moving parts for Bichette to end up with the Dodgers. But just ask yourself this: Has that ever stopped them before?