The Toronto Blue Jays magical offseason came to a screeching halt on Thursday night with news that outfielder Kyle Tucker has agreed to a US$240 million, four-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The Jays were widely considered to be one of the frontrunners for Tucker, who many experts believe was the top free agent in baseball this offseason.

So what to do the Jays do now and is a reunion with Bo Bichette still possible?

Here is what the experts are saying:

‘The spotlight has shifted back to Bo Bichette’

MLB.com Blue Jays reporter Keegan Matheson appeared on TSN’s SportsCentre shortly after news of the Tucker signing broke. Matheson said that the Dodgers are unfortunately the “one team the Blue Jays did not want to lose Kyle Tucker too’ and his signing is an example of “the rich getting richer.”

Matheson, however, says that he is not ruling out a deal to resign Bo Bichette, who was one of the Blue Jays top hitters this season.

“Bichette still makes sense and when I hear the word ‘budget’ with the Blue Jays that doesn’t mean much anymore. We have learned over the years that there is a different budget for players like (Juan) Soto (Shohei) Ohtani maybe for Kyle Tucker as well,” he said. “Does Bichette apply to that? We are going to have to wait and see but he still fits from a baseball standpoint, we know the relationship is there and it is good so the spotlight has shifted back to Bo Bichette, which is where we started this offseason.”

‘I don’t expect them to sign Bo Bichette’

While many Blue Jays fans are clamouring for a reunion with Bo Bichette in the wake of the Tucker signing, at least one expert is pouring cold water on that idea.

MLB on Fox reporter Ken Rosenthal appeared on the Foul Territory podcast late on Thursday night and said that he has not expected the Jays to resign Bichette all offseason and doesn’t see that change now.

“Yes, they have money they would have devoted to Kyle Tucker that they could now redirect to Bo Bichette but I still believe rather strongly that Bo Bichette is going to end up with the Philadelphia Phillies,” he said. “With the Blue Jays it is not like they haven’t spent here, they are already over the highest (salary) threshold so perhaps they will do some things, maybe get another outfielder. I don’t see them going after Cody Bellinger who still seems like he is heading to the New York Yankees. They could do that but it seems to me now they will probably go with what they have.”

Even after losing out on Kyle Tucker, @Ken_Rosenthal doesn’t anticipate the Blue Jays re-signing Bo Bichette.

“I still believe, rather strongly, that he’s going to end up with the Philadelphia Phillies.” pic.twitter.com/155qT2W83O

— Foul Territory (@FoulTerritoryTV) January 16, 2026

A reunion with Bichette ‘by no means’ a sure thing

MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand took a closer look at what losing out on Tucker could mean for the Blue Jays in a piece published early Friday morning. He said that while that it “certainly increases the chances of a reunion with Bichette,” it “by no means” makes it a sure thing with the Phillies now “lurking as serious contenders.” Feinsand also suggested that sources have told him that Bichette has privately expressed concern about the physical impact of playing half of his games on the artificial turf at Rogers Centre.”

“The Blue Jays have positioned themselves to move forward without Bichette, so the urgency to re-sign him isn’t likely to change much. If anything, their interest in Tucker stemmed more from the uncertainty of their outfield beyond the 2026 season,” he wrote.

Toronto can now ‘more seriously engage’

Over at CBS Sports, R.J. Anderson writes that Bichette’s free agency has likely been prolonged by the Blue Jays interest in both Tucker and Alex Bregman. Now that both are off the board, Anderson says that Toronto “can more seriously engage in talks about a potential reunion.”

“That doesn’t mean Bichette will return to the only franchise he’s played for as a professional, but the chances seem higher now than they were this time a week ago,” he says.

Jays offseason a success regardless: Pillar

Former Blue Jays Kevin Pillar appeared on the Foul Territory podcast on Friday and provided some reasons for optimism for Blue Jays fans in the wake of losing out on Kyle Tucker.

“If I am a Blue Jays fan, which I am, and over the last three or four offseasons the best free agent on the market, they (the Blue Jays) have been in there and they have been oh s

o close to landing them I got to feel good about what they are trying to do,” he said.

Pillar added that regardless of what happens with Bichette, the Blue Jays should feel good about their offseason overall.

The Blue Jays have already handed out the second biggest contract in franchise history to pitcher Dylan Cease, and have also signed star Japanese third-baseman Kazuma Okamoto, among others.

“They were four outs way from beating the World Series champs from the previous year, they were four outs away and what did they do, they went out and got better this year,” he said.