Bo-Be-Gone?

 

After years of building themselves up as titans in a division that was already highly contested, the Blue Jays are looking like they're gonna let a lot of people walk this month. Kevin Kiermaier, Yimi Garcia, Danny Jansen, Yusei Kikuchi, Justin Turner and Trevor Richards have all been linked to trade talks, and there has been a buzz about the Jays moving one of their two foundational pieces, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette. They both have another year of organizational ownership, but Vlad's stock is high, and Bo's young enough that he could be useful to any competitive roster. 

However, just today there appeared a snag in the plan, as Bo Bichette was placed on the IL with a calf strain. Bichette's 2024 numbers were already pretty lackluster, as he's only hitting .223 with 30 RBIs, but there is so much going for Bo as a multi-dimensional athlete with years left in his prime. You've seen it in the past few seasons, when Bo's on, he's one of the best in the game. He can hit 300, go for 175+ hits, chase 25 homers, and keep pounding for you. 2024, as it's looking, may be Bo's first season with a batting average under .290. My theory is whatever injury limited him late last year has taken longer for him to come back from, and he may just need to rehab that and come back fully in 2025.

That doesn't mean teams won't still deal for him, and it doesn't mean he won't still be a valuable asset this year. I just worry that this just might be a down year for him, and even if a competitor trades for him they're not gonna get much out of the rest of this season. Again, there's also the possibility that nobody deals for him because of the injury concern. You've seen this stop people [Zack Wheeler in 2019] and not stop people [Harrison Bader in 2022] in numerous trade deadlines.

The Blue Jays, in the meantime, don't seem to have much left to do this season, it seems. They're firmly in last, their ace Kevin Gausman wore himself out last year, and their other ace Jose Berrios wore himself out in the first half. They're without Jordan Romano, without Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and now without Bichette, so Canada, Hawaii and the 90s are all turning their backs on this team. South Jersey's still tuned in, as Davis Schneider, who's from a few towns over from me and is apparently a great guy, is still a crucial part of this team. The team has been getting a look at what the middle infield could look like without Bo, as Spencer Horwitz and Leo Jimenez have been excellent in middle-infield starts. And Yariel Rodriguez is at least assuring that there will be some starting security if people leave. 

But, even if Vlad and Bo stay, there's just not much excitement left for this Jays team to deliver. It looked so promising for so long, and yet here we are. Sometimes it doesn't work out. So hopefully it will eventually.

Coming Tomorrow- First Sandy Alcantara went down. Then Jesus Luzardo and Ryan Weathers went down. Then Braxton Garrett and Sixto Sanchez went down. Which leaves...uh...