The Detroit Tigers have taken the baseball world by storm with their hot start to the season. It’s hard to find a hole in their lineup, with Spencer Torkelson, Kerry Carpenter, and Riley Greene raking, Javier Baez having a bounce-back season, and Dillon Dingler emerging as a legitimate threat. They also have some of the best complementary bats in the league like Zach McKinstry and Gleyber Torres.
One weakness in their lineup is at shortstop, as Trey Sweeney hasn’t been pulling his weight with the lowest batting average amongst full-time players. He has also been a below-average defender at his position. If the Tigers want to fill out their lineup, they could look to the Toronto Blue Jays for the availability of Bo Bichette, via The Athletic.
Bichette isn’t the most outstanding defender at shortstop, but it wouldn’t be a massive dropoff going from Sweeney to him. Where the Tigers would feel Bichette’s presence the most is in the batter’s box, as he can be one of the top bats in the American League when at his best.
Detroit would get a legit top-of-the-lineup bat who has an on-base percentage of .319. It’d be a dream for players like Torkelson and Carpenter, who would get more opportunities with men on base with Bichette hitting in front of them.
The one issue would be how much the Blue Jays would want in that trade. After signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long-term extension, the Jays also want to lock up his long-time teammate. In an added wrinkle, the Jays are surprisingly at the top of the American League Wild Card race and just four games behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.
The Tigers would likely need the Jays to regress before entertaining a Bichette deal.
