Blue Jays Rumours: Why the Interest in Francisco Lindor?

Shortstop Francisco Lindor will be moved by his current team before Opening Day.

The Toronto Blue Jays don’t really need a shortstop. Their best player on the team in Bo Bichette plays there. Even though that’s the position he plays, they could always seek upgrades. While Bichette is a great player, he isn’t anywhere close yet to be being a top shortstop in the game and he may not even be among the best 10 players at his position.

As the Cleveland Indians have made it clear that they will trade their superstar shortstop in Francisco Lindor before the season starts, the Blue Jays are seen as one of the teams that could acquire him.

If the Blue Jays already have a major league caliber shortstop, why would they be interested in him? Two reasons: For defensive purposes and Lindor is a superstar.

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In 2020, as a team defensively, the Blue Jays ranked second last. Bichette posted a fielding percentage of .971 and had a Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) of -1. While he’s only been in the major leagues for two years, this was his best season defensively as he had a fielding percentage of .959 with seven errors in 42 games in 2019. His career fielding percentage is .964.

Meanwhile, Lindor posted a fielding percentage of .995 in the 2020 season making only one error. He has a career fielding percentage of .981 with a Gold Glove award to his name.

If the team plans on being a serious contender, the defense will have to improve and Lindor would do just that.

Not only would Lindor improve the team defensively but he would also give a huge boost to the offence. In his career, Lindor has slashed .285/.346/.488 with 138 home runs, 896 hits, and 191 doubles. He can also run as he’s stolen 99 bags for a success rate of 78.6%.

The Jays front office is very familiar with Lindor as they are the ones that drafted him with the 8th overall pick in the 2011 draft.

Lindor is arguably the best shortstop in the game and is one of the best players in baseball. He is a true five-tool player that would vastly improve any team that acquires him.

The Blue Jays would be ecstatic to have him although he will come at the sacrifice of future assets.