Starting the season, the Toronto Blue Jays or Bo Bichette didn’t play the baseball they were looking to play.Â
That could put them in a strange position at the deadline, given the Blue Jays are already 6.5 games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East. However, the Blue Jays are one of the toughest teams in baseball to understand at this point. After signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a $500 million deal, their plan might be to keep Bichette around in the winter, too.
Despite the uncertainties, Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report believes he’s the most likely player to be traded for the Blue Jays at the deadline, adding that calls will come if they continue to play sub-.500 baseball, which they’ve done for the past year and a half.Â
âThey haven’t played particularly well, last boasting a winning record a full month ago. But they’ve also invested so much money into this season that it’s kind of hard to see them throwing in the towelâunless they can somehow shave close to $30M off their payroll to get below the luxury tax threshold, which only becomes possible if they start unloading guys with multiple years of team control remaining. If their sub-.500 ways continue, though, the calls about impending free agent Bo Bichette (as well as Chris Bassitt) may become too much to ignore.
âBichette had a dreadful and injury-filled season in 2024, but he’s looking back to at least 90 percent of his old self these days, batting .292 and only a few slugging percentage points away from matching what fetched him AL MVP votes in each year from 2021-23,â Miller wrote.
What Would Bichetteâs Value Be Like?
If the Toronto Blue Jays make Bichette available, there will be many teams around Major League Baseball interested in him. Just to name a few, the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Detroit Tigers, and other contenders could use an infielder.Â
Given he’d only be a rental due to him hitting free agency at the end of the season, there will be teams that want to take a chance on him.Â
For that reason alone, some believe he could be traded, including Zachary Rotman, who thinks he won’t be back during the 2026 campaign.Â
“When he’s right, he’s a great player, and is off to a solid start to his 2025 campaign,” wrote Rotman. “With that being said, Bichette is coming off a down year in 2024, is going to be asking for a lot of money, and the Jays have a plethora of replacement options for him internally. Andres Gimenez, Will Wagner, Orelvis Martinez, and Addison Barger are all either in the majors or knocking on the door, and can all realistically be viewed as long-term solutions in some capacity.”
Blue Jays Future Outlook With and Without Bichette
Depending on what the Toronto Blue Jays want to do in the offseason with Bichette, that should make their plan for them.Â
The Blue Jays don’t have much reason to keep him around if the idea is to move on from him in free agency.Â
If they want to keep him, trading him wouldn’t make much sense then. At this point, no team will likely want to move a haul for a hitter with just four home runs and a 109 OPS+ who only has a few months left on his deal.
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