With the Christmas holiday now behind us, it’s time for the Toronto Blue Jays to get back to trying to fill out their roster for 2026.

And there’s a sense of urgency to do that considering the Jays got within just one win of the World Series title in 2025. While seven weeks is still a decent amount of time, the clock is ticking, and we’ll be at spring training before you know it.

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The biggest thing on the Jays’ to-do list? Figure out exactly what’s going on with Bo Bichette, Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker. Toronto seems destined to land at least one of them, and we recently explored the idea of them acquiring one infielder and Tucker both.

Speaking on Wednesday’s edition of ‘Foul Territory TV,’ former Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar said that when it comes to Bichette, the team needs to make sure they pay him like a shortstop if they are going to keep him.

Now, that may sound self-explanatory but here’s the reality.

Players who play in the middle of the diamond get paid the most money. Pitchers, centerfielders, catchers and shortstops all do very well in free agency or on the extension market. They are that valuable. Second basemen, who also play up the middle, don’t tend to get paid as much because they are seen as less defensively-rangey than shortstops, and they often don’t hit for a lot of power, with some exceptions.

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Well, in the case of Bichette, he’s reportedly willing to move to second base. And if he did that with Toronto, it would be smart. Andres Gimenez is one of the best defensive infielders in baseball, and he could play shortstop.

To Pillar’s point: Even if Bichette is willing to move to second base, he should be paid like a shortstop. It sounds trivial to fans, but it’s a difference of millions of dollars to players, and there’s also the matter of respect.

Bichette would also become one of the most impact offensive second basemen in the game. He hit .311 this past season with 18 homers and 94 RBIs. He’s led the American League in hits twice in his career.

We see this in the NFL all the time. Without getting too deep in the weeds on NFL contract structures, tight ends are not paid as much as wide receivers. However, there are some tight ends who feel like they produce like wide receivers, and play in a similar style to wide receivers, and they want to be paid like wide receivers.

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Same difference here.

Well, now it’s time to go. Players want answers on their futures. Teams want to plan their rosters, and each side is a little more pressed for time because of the World Baseball Classic, which takes place in early March.

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