3 Bo Bichette trade packages the Blue Jays wouldn’t be able to turn down

In his recent media availability, Toronto Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro said, “We believe there's enough talent in place to build a contending championship caliber team next year. Had we not, we would have made a different set of decisions ".

But with so many needs to fill to reload for a postseason run in 2025, how can the front office improve the overall talent level of the 26-man roster as well as MLB-ready depth in the farm system?

With USA Today’s Bob Nightengale writing Sunday that the Blue Jays “are expected to entertain trade offers this winter for shortstop Bo Bichette, who has no plans to stay in Toronto once he’s a free agent after the 2025 season,” there may be a tailor-made solution brewing.

22-year-old shortstop Leo Jiménez, ranked No. 4 in the midseason update to Jays Journal's Top 30 Blue Jays Prospects, has been playing well since his July 4 call up. Meanwhile, the Blue Jays may have a stockpile of good shortstop prospects, including Arjun Nimmala (No. 3) and Josh Kasevich (No. 12) .

Absent a contract extension, Bichette will be a free agent after next season. His last season of team control comes at a reasonable $11.2M average annual value (AAV) contract for luxury tax purposes, even though he’s owed $16.5M in cash.

He’s a 26-year-old, two time All-Star who led the American League in hits in both 2021 and 2022. That’s no small feat. In Toronto’s 48-year franchise history, they’ve only had three players lead the AL in hits: Paul Molitor in 1993, Vernon Wells in 2003, and Bichette, who did it twice. Since his MLB debut on July 29, 2019, Bo ranks 8th in MLB in hits and has complied a 16.2 fWAR, which ranks him 32nd in baseball over that stretch.

However, the writing has been on the wall for sometime, especially in light of the inability of the front office and Bichette to agree to a long term contract extension. In late June, he told Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae that he would not have been been surprised at all if Toronto had moved him at the July 30 trade deadline.

Of course, as Jays Journal editor Eric Treuden wrote, “Struggles or not, the Blue Jays do not have to move Bichette , so they're going to ask for a lot in return.”

An offer they can’t refuse?

So what trade offers for a year’s worth of Bo Bichette’s services would the Blue Jays not be able to turn down? While it’s hard to watch excellence walk out the door, Toronto hasn’t won any playoff games in the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bichette era. Perhaps it’s time to cash in their best trade chip to fill other pressing needs for 2025 and beyond?

Below, we delve into three potential packages that might extend Toronto’s competitive window even with a core that doesn’t include Bichette. We’re assuming that Jiménez can be the solution at shortstop, and that some big power bats will be signed via free agency given the likes of Juan Soto, Anthony Santander, Teoscar Hernández, Cody Bellinger and Alex Bregman are potential free agents. There’s also a strong under 32-year-old starting pitching class, including Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Jack Flaherty, and the rehabbing Shane Bieber and Lucas Giolito.

As the focus is now clearly on 2025, those remaining pressing needs include MLB-ready starting pitch depth to improve upon the departed Yusei Kikuchi, an injured Alek Manoah, and the paucity of healthy prospect arms in the farm system. The Blue Jays also need impact MLB relief arms to significantly improve upon Yimi García, Trevor Richards, Tim Mayza and Nate Pearson, and provide lock down, high-leverage relief so that the bullpen isn’t “an Achilles” again in 2025; and, they need an MLB-ready catcher to replace Danny Jansen given the weak free agent class at the position.

We overlaid the competitive teams that have a potential need at shortstop in 2025 with their updated top prospects that would meet the above needs for Toronto. Instead of trading for just average prospects from a bottom ranked farm system like the Houston Astros, a year of control of Bo Bichette should be worth two top 100, MLB-ready prospects or young players who’ve already graduated to the bigs.