By Burlington Staff
December 15th, 2025
BURLINGTON, ON
Team management and the negotiation of sports contracts have become an academic discipline. Brock University is leading in this field.
After a historic post-season run, the Toronto Blue Jays organization went straight to work this winter by quickly signing several high-profile players, including pitchers Dylan Cease, Cody Ponce and Tyler Rogers.
Assistant Professor of Sport Management Ryan Clutterbuck
Perhaps the biggest questions now in the minds of Jays fans across the country — and Assistant Professor of Sport Management Ryan Clutterbuck — is what does free agent Bo Bichette want? And can the American League champs give it to him?
“Last off-season, the Jays locked up Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year $500 million extension, a full year before he was eligible to test free agency, but chose not to do the same with Bichette, despite similar contractual timelines and both being homegrown fan favourites,” says the Brock University expert, who researches and teaches negotiations, organizational behaviour and leadership in sport.
“He bet on himself and now he’s about to cash in on that wager, whether it’s with Toronto or some other team,”
After bouncing back from injuries to mount an impressive post-season performance, Bichette entered free agency in high demand.
“Good for Bichette. All season, he bet on himself and now he’s about to cash in on that wager, whether it’s with Toronto or some other team,” Clutterbuck says.
He says the complexities of getting deals across the plate extend far beyond the widely reported financials..
“Of course, the number is important. But when contracts are reported, it’s typically very straightforward: the number of years, guarantees and signing bonus, and total compensation,” he says. “That’s interesting, but it’s only a piece of the pie.”
He says most contract decisions, in and outside professional sport, come down to a balance between interests and positions. What do job seekers – such as Major League Baseball (MLB) free agents – want and what are their underlying motivations for wanting it.
For high-profile free agents like Bichette, it’s not one single issue or demand (their position), but a range of boxes (their interests) that must be checked to finalize a deal.
Clutterbuck: “Why people choose to work where they work and what ultimately makes them happy or unhappy,”
“In my second-year organizational behaviour in sport organizations course, we talk about why people choose to work where they work and what ultimately makes them happy or unhappy,” Clutterbuck says. “Money is a part of that, but there’s so much more that goes into the decisions these players are making.”
When free agents are weighing competing offers, assuming compensation is competitive, they may also consider whether they like the coaching staff, the teammates they would be joining on the field and the overall culture of the organization.
There’s also family and lifestyle perspectives to consider.
“It’s not just about what you want,” Clutterbuck says. “We all saw those celebrations on the field after the big wins: There’s families, there’s wives, there’s girlfriends. How and where do they want to spend their eight-month, 162-game season and off-season?”
Clutterbuck says external influences also impact player decisions. The role and impact of player agents — who have a personal and professional interest in maximizing the total compensation — and the MLB Players Association (PA) is also part of the equation.
“The PA’s interest is that players to get as much money as they possibly can because teams will then use those deals as comparables for future free agents, which impacts how much money their membership makes,” he says.
So, when can Blue Jays fans expect a deal to be finalized?
“What I would expect is that he and his agent will be talking with all the available suitors as quickly as they can to make a deal somewhere. It will happen soon.”
Because there are very few incentives to remain in free agency without a contract – short of pursuing a bidding war between rival clubs – Clutterbuck says it’s likely that Bichette and the Jays’ situation will conclude sooner than later.
“He doesn’t want to be a free agent any longer than is absolutely necessary. Worst case scenario is he gets hurt while training or rehabbing in the off-season without a contract in place, and now there’s questions and concerns about his value and durability,” he says. “What I would expect is that he and his agent will be talking with all the available suitors as quickly as they can to make a deal somewhere. It will happen soon.”
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