Blue Jays aiming to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, not trade them at deadline, says GM Ross Atkins

Things are not going as planned for the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays, to the point that there are rumors that cornerstone pieces Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette could at least be hanging on the trade market next summer.

If the Jays front office gets its way, that won’t be the case. General Manager Ross Atkins said on MLB Network Radio Domingo that his objective is to expand the duo instead of exchanging them.

“Of course we have dialogue with them and this is something that will continue,” he said. “We believe in them, we believe in their future and we hope there is a way for them to play here for a long time.”

Guerrero and Bichette are legacies and debuted for the Blue Jays in 2019, quickly establishing themselves as stars in their own right rather than simply following the lead of their fathers (Vlad Sr. and Dante, respectively). Bichette is a two-time All-Star and has garnered MVP votes in three different seasons. Guerrero is a three-time All-Star and MVP runner-up (to Shohei Ohtani in his first full dual season). With both games in the lineup, the Jays have made the playoffs in two of the last three years, while winning 91 games in the season and missing the postseason.

In the absence of contract extensions, both are expected to hit free agency after next season.

This season, the Blue Jays enter Sunday struggling at 27-30 and in last place in the AL East.

Guerrero is hitting .292/.390/.406 (132 OPS+) with 10 doubles, five homers and 25 RBI. The concern there is his lack of power, especially considering his 48 home run season in 2021 and the fact that he is a first baseman. Of course, the Jays will put him at third base on Sunday for the first time since 2019 (he appeared there in 2022, but only for two innings and didn’t start). Atkins said on the radio that Guerrero will continue to “start” third, so this doesn’t appear to be an isolated case.

Bichette is hitting .241/.289/.349 (84 OPS+) with nine doubles, one triple, four homers, 25 RBI, 19 runs and 0.1 WAR. It looks like the worst season of his career by a decent margin.

The thought process behind a potential trade for either of them is that the Blue Jays are obsolete and underperforming and in need of a change. Both players would still have significant value on the trade block considering their age, respective career pedigrees and the extra year of control rather than serving as rental players.

It appears that, at least for now, Atkins and his Blue Jays front office prefer to keep both and build around them.

“It doesn’t make sense to us,” Atkins said Sunday. “There will be occasional times when you’ll be talking to other executives and they’ll ask if you would consider it and we’ll just say it’s not something we spend a lot of time on. Because they’re so talented and great teammates, they’re attractive to other teams, then they will call.”

This is where trade rumors originate. According to Atkins, there is nothing for them now.

Things could change, however, and the Jays will certainly look to extend both players if they truly want to build around them. As such, it will be interesting to monitor this situation over the next two months.