The Toronto Blue Jays will be one of the most intriguing teams to watch over the first four months of the season.
Thankfully, the Blue Jays got the monkey off their back with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s contract. Now that the superstar is locked in on a 14-year, $500 million extension, they don’t need to worry about a full-on rebuild in future seasons.
It bears mentioning, though, that the Blue Jays are still in the brutally competitive American League East, where they currently sit in third place. If they fall back out of the playoff race, they could still be fascinating sellers at the trade deadline.
In fact, if Toronto does wind up selling, they might have the best position player to move of any team at the deadline.
On Tuesday, ESPN’s David Schoenfield discussed the possibility that the Blue Jays could trade away shortstop Bo Bichette, a two-time American League All-Star whose $33 million arbitration extension expires at the end of the season.
“In the Blue Jays’ case, things would really have to go sour for them to surrender at the trade deadline, but they do have two interesting would-be free agents in Bassitt (off to a tremendous start with a 0.77 ERA through four outings) and Bichette (hitting for average but not any power),” Schoenfield wrote.
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Bichette, 27, is currently hitting .313 with only a .396 slugging percentage. But even with zero home runs, he’s got a 120 OPS+ and 0.7 bWAR through 20 games, which makes him an extremely valuable player.
Plus, it’s not as though Bichette shouldn’t be expected to hit for power eventually. He’s got three seasons of 20-plus home runs (2021 to 2023) with a career-high of 29.
Toronto may not be preparing a big-time offer for Bichette in free agency after paying Guerrero, especially if they don’t think he’ll stick at shortstop for many more seasons. If that’s the case, it’s reasonable to wonder if he’ll be traded, but only if the Blue Jays are completely out of the hunt.
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