Blue Jays: 3 players fans are ready to move on from

Cavan Biggio

I’ll preface this by saying I’m still a believer in Cavan Biggio. But I will admit, last year wasn't pretty. Biggio entered 2022 a season removed from his first disappointing season in the bigs. He appeared to be relied upon to be the primary third baseman, and there was really no reason to think he wasn’t up to the task. From 2019-2020 he had been successful as a utilityman, playing mostly second base while making appearances at first, third, and the corner outfield spots. He posted a 116 OPS+ during that period and was quietly one of the Jays most effective players, actually leading the team in bWAR amongst position players with 2.0 over the 60 game season.

Biggio didn’t experience similar fortunes in 2021, as he never seemed comfortable at third and never got a rhythm at the plate. With this in the rearview, I was looking forward to this season, as it seemed like there was a capable platoon to be had between him and Espinal at second. But again, he fell short. When the Texas native’s game is off, he’s very strikeout prone. Night after night saw him striking out in big situations, and always left you wanting more, as he is only 27 years old and is two years removed from a solid performance.

While a roster crunch is imminent, Biggio doesn’t appear to be going anywhere, albeit to the distaste of many Blue Jays fans. With the emergence of both Whit Merrifield and Santiago Espinal, as well as the presence of multiple middle infield prospects, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where he is a full time second baseman on the Blue Jays from here on out. I expect him to play a similar role to what he did last year, filling in around the infield and corner outfield, but this year putting up competent and consistent at bats.

If Blue Jays fans are to get their wish and see Cavan gone, a trade would be the way to go. He is at a point of low cost, high upside to a team looking to trade with the Jays. It’s plausible that Biggio is included as a piece in, say, a trade with the Marlins, where the Jays acquire more pitching and an outfielder in exchange for one of their catchers and Biggio. Cavan is on the outside looking in for playing time, putting him in an expendable position compared to what we saw at the beginning of last year. A trade like this would no doubt grant the wishes of a good amount of Jays fans, but the fan writing this still thinks Biggio is capable of contributing to a championship caliber team.