Blue Jays GM Addresses Bichette & Guerrero Trade Rumors

As you've no doubt heard by now, there's been a lot of trade buzz around the Toronto Blue Jays' two biggest names, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette this season. The team does not appear to be a playoff contender at this point, and big decisions must be made by management about how they're going to proceed as we get into the summer, closer to the trade deadline.

For what it's worth, general manager Ross Atkins (whose verbal ramblings one must usually take with a grain of salt, as far as truthfulness and accountability go), met the media today and tried to dispel the notion that he'd be looking to trade either Vladdy or Bo, who each have one more year of team control before becoming free agents in 2026.

"We believe in them, we believe in their futures and hope there's a way they can play here for a long time."

Ross Atkins addresses the reports that Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could be traded:@BlueJays | #BlueJays | #TOTHECORE

🔗 https://t.co/fGPbvbjGlC pic.twitter.com/dtTbq4wPOz
— MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM (@MLBNetworkRadio) June 2, 2024

“It just doesn’t make any sense for us,” Atkins said. “There will be occasional times when you’re talking to other executives, when they’ll ask if you’d consider it, and we just say it’s not something that we have spent any time on. Because they are so talented and such great teammates, they are attractive to other teams, so they will call.

"We believe in them, we believe in their futures and hope there's a way they can play here for a long time," Atkins continued. But while Bichette was signed to a 3-year, $33 million contract buying out some arbitration years a couple of seasons back, Guerrero has never been signed to any kind of extended contract, and has only been year-to-year.

Guerrero was the MVP runner-up in 2021 when he led the majors with 48 home runs, and was tops in the AL in on-base pct. at .401, slugging at .601 and OPS at 1.002. But he hasn't come close to any of those numbers since.

Bichette has been the more consistent of the two, regularly batting in the .300 range with an OPS in the low .800s, terrific numbers for a shortstop.

So while Atkins churns out his company line, it remains to be seen how the Jays perform over the next six weeks or so, and what sort of offers other teams throw at them before we know for sure whether either Guerrero or Bichette could be a factor at the trade deadline which arrives on July 30th.