Blue Jays: Front office should consider moving Freddy Galvis

With Freddy Galvis’ solo shot in Sunday’s loss to the Rays, he became the MLB leader in home runs among shortstops.

Freddy Galvis has been by far the Blue Jays’ most productive offensive player and is certainly providing more value than Troy Tulowitzki would’ve if the team opted to keep him. The season is young, but Galvis ranks among the top five shortstops in both wOBA and WAR while playing unspectacular but solid defense up the middle.

As well as he’s been playing, the veteran shortstop is nothing but a stopgap for a rebuilding team. With the likes of Bo Bichette and Cavan Biggio looking like they’re ready for the show, the 29-year-old Galvis shouldn’t be a part of the team’s long-term plans. The Jays hold a club option on his contract for the 2020 season, but by this time next year, he’ll be taking valuable at-bats away from those who need them.

This leads me to the idea that Galvis’ value is possibly the highest it will ever be while with the Jays, and trading him now is something the front office should consider. Moving Galvis would leave the team without a proven capable big league shortstop, but realistically this team is coming nowhere close to the playoffs so that really isn’t an issue.

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I would expect the return to be fairly insignificant whether they opt to trade him in the next few weeks or closer to the trade deadline, but acting now could earn the team a better deal than they’d get later in the season. The Yankees, Mets, and Nationals are teams that come to mind as possibly having a role for Galvis.

This all sounds drastic two weeks into the season, but 2019 is about playing the kids, and with the wave of young position players coming up from the minors, there isn’t enough playing time to go around. Any veteran with trade value should be shipped out if only to open up a spot to see what a potential building block can do.

If Shapiro and Atkins want to fully commit to that philosophy, opening an everyday spot for Richard Urena, maybe even Bichette, and giving one of the two valuable big league experience is something that could expedite the rebuilding process.