The Toronto Blue Jays could still go either way at the 2025 trade deadline.
Thankfully, the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. saga is completely in the past. The four-time All-Star is locked in on a 14-year extension, so he won't be for sale if the Blue Jays fall out of the race. But a lot of other good players could still be on the move.
Now that Guerrero is off the market, the attention will shift to shortstop Bo Bichette, who remains a free agent heading into the offseason.
Bichette, 27, had a dismal year in 2024, but he's trended upward in the new year. He's yet to hit a home run, which is slightly concerning, but he's hitting .298 with a team-high eight doubles, so there are lots of positive indicators that he could be on his way back to form.
On Wednesday, Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer named Bichette as one of this year's trade candidates whose stock is currently trending "up" several months ahead of the Jul. 31 deadline.
"With his strikeout percentage down from 19.0 to 14.3, one thing Bichette is doing is simply putting more balls in play. He's also hitting the ball hard, as he's firmly above average with his exit velocity (68th percentile) and hard-hit rate (80th percentile)," Rymer wrote.
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"With minus-two Outs Above Average on his defensive line, whether Bichette should be playing shortstop remains debatable. As with Trea Turner in 2021, though, it's possible a team could trade for him and immediately move him to second base."
It remains to be seen whether the Blue Jays will attempt to re-sign Bichette as a free agent, but Guerrero's massive contract and the offseason trade for second baseman Andrés Giménez are both context clues that they may not be willing to pay the price the two-time All-Star is likely to command.
Obviously, the Blue Jays' preferred scenario is to make one last run at a World Series with Bichette in tow. But they'll have to give strong consideration to dealing him if their playoff odds are low by midsummer.
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