Blue Jays: A Freddy Galvis return actually makes a lot of sense

If the Blue Jays feel they need a shortstop to weather the storm of Bo Bichette’s injury, why not call the Reds about a familiar face?

The trade deadline is less than 48 hours away, which means that Ross Atkins and the rest of the front office aren’t going to be getting a lot of sleep over the next few days.

They’ve already added Taijuan Walker to help boost the rotation, and Dan Vogelbach to add some pop to the bench, but there’s a good chance the Blue Jays will continue to look to improve the roster. One of the needs that’s been talked about lately is at shortstop, which is fairly thin with Bo Bichette still on the Injured List. Without a timetable for his return yet, it makes sense that the Jays would be looking for some help, even to aid in their push for a playoff spot.

One of the rumours that’s been circulating is reported interest in Andrelton Simmons, the defensive wizard of the Los Angeles Angels. Simmons is on an expiring contract, and with the Angels being out of the playoff race it would make a lot of sense for them to move him to a contender. That said, as a former All-Star and a premium defender, I worry that their asking price could be fairly significant, especially when you consider that the Blue Jays still hope to get Bichette back before the end of the year.

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With that in mind, I’m wondering if there’s not a better solution with a familiar face in Toronto. That would be with Freddy Galvis, who also finds himself on the outside of a playoff race in the National League with Cincinnati. The veteran played most of last season with the Blue Jays before he was claimed off of waivers by the Reds. It was a bit of a surprise that the Blue Jays weren’t able to trade him for some sort of a return, but they didn’t want to block Bichette once he’d arrived in Toronto, or relegate Galvis to the bench.

He’s not having the best season of his career thus far, as he’s slashed just .220/.304/.451 over 91 at-bats, but there’s no doubt that he could be a serviceable option at shortstop. He should be available too, as the Reds recently called up their highly touted shortstop prospect in Jose Garcia, who has taken the majority of starts from the veteran since his arrival.

I believe that someone like Galvis would make more sense for the Blue Jays whether Bichette is able to return or not. As much as I want them to make reaching the post-season their goal, and do the best they can, it’s probably not fair to expect them to win the World Series in 2020. Simply reaching the post-season would be a major step in the right direction, even if the playoff pool has been expanded this. The experience will be invaluable for their young core, and will help them prepare for 2021 and beyond.

That said, bringing in a serviceable option should be enough to get the job done when you look at the big picture. They’ve been getting by just fine lately by using Santiago Espinal and Joe Panik, and the way the post-season picture is starting to shape up, their chances are looking very good, with few contenders in their way. As much as I’d love to see Simmons in a Blue Jays uniform, and I won’t deny that he’s better than Galvis, but I don’t think he makes the difference in the way this season ends for them either way. Galvis also works a lot better as a utility man if/once Bichette can return, and we don’t have to talk about where anyone is going to play with a healthy roster.

Considering the Reds are just 14-18 and have replaced Galvis as the starter in Cincinnati, chances are they’d be willing to make him available. If that’s the case, bringing him back to the Blue Jays for a reunion probably makes a ton of sense.