Blue Jays: Where Does Cavan Biggio Play in 2021?

Rumors and speculations are running rapid in the Blue Jays fan base and with several names being fantasized about, one player currently on the club will be impacted heavily in almost every scenario that plays out with a new player coming in.

It seemed as soon as the Blue Jays 2020 season ended, there were already rumors on how the team was going to get better for the 2021 season.

Whether it was reports of trade talks with the Cleveland Indians for Francisco Lindor, making a splash in the free agent market by signing George Springer, or simply by moving Vladimir Guerrero Jr back to third base.  Each of these situations and many more will have an impact on where Cavan Biggio will find himself playing in the upcoming season.  I will look at the potential positions that Biggio could end up playing.

In figuring out where Biggio could end up, I have to look at where he won’t be playing or where it is unlikely he’ll play.  The one position I can say with certainty is catcher as that is a specific position that he has no background playing and is an easy scratch off the list. The highly unlikely position is shortstop; as the only way Bo Bichette isn’t playing that spot next season is if they get an even better player in that position, and in that case Biggio isn’t taking that spot.  The third position, I would be very doubtful is right field.  The Blue Jays need to find spots for both Randal Grichuk and Teoscar Hernandez, so one of them will be penciled into that position each day.  Biggio could find himself in that position for the odd game, but not full-time for the entirety of the season.

So with three of the eight defensive positions off the table, I believe there is a possibility of Biggio playing any of the remaining five positions.

There’s no place like home

Second Base

The easy position for you to pencil Biggio in, would be at second base.  Biggio has now started 150 games through his first two seasons, and 116 (77%) of them have been at that spot on the field.  Biggio is not flashy, but plays the position very well, taking proper angles to cut off balls to keep in the infield.  The 25 year old made just three errors in that spot last year in 131 chances for a .977 fielding position, which as a comparison, Cesar Hernandez who won the Gold Glove this past season had a .981 fielding position.

The question is, in which situation does Biggio find himself playing that position in 2021?  As said before, the team has been rumoured to be in on acquiring Lindor, but they have also been speculated as a suitor to sign free agent Kolten Wong, who has won the National League Gold Glove for the last two seasons.  If the team acquires Lindor my belief is that Bichette would likely slide over to second base, and as such Biggio would have to move from that position.  If the team signs Wong it would likely to be the everyday second basemen which would cause Biggio to move.

If one of these situations were to occur, I would almost guarantee Biggio would be moving from the second base position.  However, if the team does not acquire Wong or Lindor you can likely expect Biggio to be back in the same position as last year.

Corner Infield Positions

First Base

In 2020, the first base position was split between Vladimir Guerrero Jr and Rowdy Tellez with the odd game for Travis Shaw.  The Blue Jays have moved on from Shaw, so he is out of the picture; Guerrero Jr has told everyone that his intentions is to move back to third base full time, which leaves Tellez as the penciled in position at first base.

I think it is about time that Tellez gets the opportunity to be the everyday first basemen, however I am not sure the confidence management has in him on defence.  Tellez finished last season fifth on the team in home runs, yet only had almost half the amount of the plate appearances as everyone else.  Tellez also had just 18 starts at that position, yet made no errors in 136 chances, which makes it a little puzzling why he has not go more of an opportunity.  I’m not quite sure what else he needs to do to get an opportunity to play every day; his walks increased by double (7% up to 15.7%) and his strike outs were drastically cut (28.3% down to 15.7%).  So how does Biggio find himself going to first base?

If Guerrero Jr can prove he is back to being a third basemen and management doesn’t have faith in Tellez or he fails in his opportunity, Biggio could find himself at first base.  Biggio did not play any first base in 2020, however in his rookie season he started two games and came in relief for six others, so it isn’t out of question to see the club push him to the position.  Another scenario that relates to Tellez is if the team decides to have him as a full-time designated hitter.  While it is not the likely situation, there is the possibility to see Biggio moved over to first base.

Third Base

If Biggio is to move to third base, this could be caused by a couple scenarios and some would need to be a trickle effect.  In almost every scenario it would have to be caused by Guerrero Jr. failing to secure the spot at third base.  Unlike Biggio, Guerrero Jr. is not versatile and the only places on the field he can play is the two corner infield positions.  I fully expect a determined Guerrero Jr. to reclaim the hot corner and I believe we are all in for a drastic jump in ability next year from the 2020 Vlad Jr we saw, so I don’t see Biggio moving there. However if it were to happen, Biggio could handle the position change as he started 10 games at third base last season and made just one error.

If Guerrero Jr fails to claim third base, and the team acquires either Lindor or Wong, I believe Biggio will be the third basemen next season.  If the team brought in Wong it would likely mean Bichette stays at short stop and Biggio moves to third.  However, if Lindor is acquired, Bichette could possibly move to third base with Biggio staying at second base.