The Toronto Blue Jays have reached the postseason in three of the past four seasons, but haven’t made it past the wild card round since 2016 and haven’t won the American League East in nearly a decade.
They were also virtually tied with Tampa Bay for last place in the division in Sunday’s opener.
While selling players at the trade deadline is not out of the question, general manager Ross Atkins said Sunday that he has no plans to move either Vladimir Guerrero Jr. or Bo Bichette.
Despite their position in the standings and playoff elimination, Atkins told MLB Network Radio: From ESPN“It just doesn’t make sense for us to trade them.”
“When we’re talking to other executives, they ask us if we’d consider them, and we just say we haven’t invested any time into it,” Atkins said. “They’re very talented and great teammates, so they’ll be attractive to other teams and they’ll contact us.”
Guerrero is having another strong season, but hasn’t reached an MVP-caliber level of play since 2021, and Bichette is having the worst performance of his career so far this year.
However, Atkins said he has discussed contract extensions with both players rather than pursuing trades.
Guerrero, 25, and Bichette, 26, are set to become free agents after the 2025 season.
“Obviously, we’ve had conversations with them and that will continue,” Atkins said. “We believe in them, we believe in their future and we’re hopeful there’s a way for them to play here for a long time.”
So did head coach John Schneider, and Atkins said Schneider is safe.
“I don’t believe in change. [just] “We have to seek change, we have to change to try something different,” Atkins said of Schneider. “We have to get better, and I think John Schneider is just part of the solution.” [he] It will continue to be so.”
