MLB Insider Speculates on Possible Toronto Blue Jays Trade Return For Vlad Jr., Bo Bichette

If the Jays were to trade either of their stars, Jim Bowden of The Athletic doesn't think the return would be all that great.

Toronto Blue Jays short stop Bo Bichette (11) and Manager John Schneider (14) in the dugout in the fourth inning against the Houston Astros at Rogers Centre on July 3. / Gerry Angus-Imagn Images

The Toronto Blue Jays are in an extremely perilous spot right now. First, they clearly want to compete. With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette in the final year of their rookie contracts, they want to maximize their contention window. However, they haven't been able to land any of the big free agents this offseason, striking out on both Juan Soto and Max Fried.

If they can't land any help for Guerrero Jr. and Bichette, perhaps the best course of action is to trade them and try to jump start a rebuild. However, MLB Insider Jim Bowden of The Athletic doesn't think that the return would be anywhere near what fans would expect.

He wrote the following on Monday:

If the Blue Jays were to trade Guerrero, I don’t think they’d get a strong return in line with what the Padres received for Soto from the Yankees a year ago, but they could still land a top-three prospect and a top-10 prospect for the slugger, I would guess, while a Bichette trade could bring back two top-10 prospects.

The goal, obviously, is not have to get to that point. The Jays are still interested in big names like Corbin Burnes, Anthony Santander, and Alex Bregman. They've also reportedly been talking to Guerrero Jr. about a possible contract extension that would keep him around long-term.

Guerrero Jr. is a four-time All-Star who is coming off a season in which he hit .323 with 30 homers and 103 RBI. Bichette is coming off a dreadful year in which he played only 82 games because of injury. He hit just .225 with four home runs.

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