Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s power slump has made this a necessary upgrade for Blue Jays at deadline

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is not having the season he, or anyone, expected him to have in 2026. The 27-year-old Canadian has just three home runs on the season, and none of them have come in Toronto. Rogers Centre has been a cruel environment for the right-handed hitting first baseman and it's likely giving the Blue Jays some extra work to do at the trade deadline.

ESPN recently published an update to their top-100 trade candidates list and industry experts see the Blue Jays being buyers at the deadline. While they are linked to almost every single pitcher that is speculated to be available, the other thing the Blue Jays are believed to be shopping for is power. While that should be something most contending teams will have on their "wants" list, the Blue Jays are in a perplexing situation where they may have to shop in the first baseman aisle to secure that power.

Two first basemen with power could compliment Blue Jays roster at the deadline

There are two players that Jeff Passan and Kiley McDaniel believe will compliment the Blue Jays in the area they have been lacking all season; Wilson Contreras of the Boston Red Sox and Christian Walker of the Houston Astros.

Contreras is in the middle of his five-year, $88 million deal that he signed when he was with the St. Louis Cardinals. He has a club option for 2028 and if he keeps producing at this rate over the next two seasons, picking up that option should be a no-brainer no matter what team he is on. Traditionally a catcher, Contreras has become the first baseman the Red Sox have needed. However, the Red Sox need a lot more this season to get back into the race and right now it's looking more and more likely that they will sell, at least somewhat, at the deadline.

Contreras has 16 home runs and a .560 SLG to go along with a 158 wRC+ and .209 ISO. His .952 OPS is almost two hundred points higher than anyone currently on the Blue Jays' roster and his 16 home runs are one more than George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Guerrero combined.

It's not a perfect fit since Contreras only plays either first or DH and those two spots are occupied by Guerrero and Springer, but with power numbers like these, manager John Schneider could easily find a way to pencil in Contreras every night.

Same goes for Walker, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2027 season, and unlike Contreras he doesn't have any options on what is currently a three-year, $60 million deal. Going into Wednesday (Jun. 17) Walker had blasted 18 home runs, tied for fourth in the American League. His slash line isn't as high as that of Contreras, but a .316 OBP with an .811 OPS and 122 wRC+ is still an upgrade over what some of the Blue Jays' hitters have produced this season.

Houston is four games back in the AL West but only 2.5 games back of a Wild Card spot, so they may be more likely to hang on to Walker than the Red Sox would be to hang on to Contreras. However, the Blue Jays and the Astros have been familiar trade partners over the last few seasons and it wouldn't be a complete surprise to read that Blue Jays' GM Ross Atkins is trying to acquire Walker.

Neither fit is perfect, but if the Blue Jays are going to start separating themselves from the pack and get themselves comfortably over the .500 mark, either of these players would be a massive upgrade.

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