The Toronto Blue Jays Need To Blow Up The Dynasty That Never Was

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The future couldn't feel brighter. It was 2019 and the Toronto Blue Jays had 4 of the Top 76 prospects in all of baseball including #11 Bo Bichette and the biggest blue chip in the entire sport in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. It seemed like they were ready to become a dominant force in the American League.

They never won a playoff game.

It's over for the Blue Jays. They reached the level of "pretty good" but couldn't get over the hump past that. They went to the playoffs three times but it was always as a Wild Card and they went 0-6 in the postseason. Now they sit at 44-52 with a dreadfully boring roster and a payroll close to $225 million dollars. They went from being the team of the future to a cautionary tale.

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They need to tear it all down and start over. It's tough to admit you wasted nearly a decade on a core that didn't deliver but it's more of a malpractice if you do nothing at all. The good news is there are some players on the roster that should be able to jumpstart the rebuilding process. Vladdy Jr and Bo Bichette each are under control until the end of next year. The sooner you move them both, they more you'll get back. 

Bichette is having a terrible season. You do see this sometimes with great contact hitters. Wade Boggs had a pretty awful 1992 (in a contract year no less). The good news is he did rebound and had a nice few years with the Yankees after that. The bad news is he was never quite as good as he was before 1992. The risk if you don't trade Bichette now is he has another year like this next year and then he has no trade value. He's only 26. You'd get a ton back for him right now.

You'd get even more for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He's only 25 (!!!!) and he's having a nice enough season. He's still nowhere near the great player we saw in 2021. I don't know where that guy went. But he's a very good hitter with a mile high ceiling. He could get you a team's 2-3 best prospects. 

I understand some people might think it's crazy to trade guys so young to start a rebuilding process but it's more than just an age thing. The real value in young guys is that they are under club control. Paying these guys $30 million/year isn't what a rebuilding team needs to do. I do think there is also value in being truly terrible for a couple years. Those high draft picks and focus on a farm system can be a blueprint to winning. Look at the Astros from a couple years ago or even the Orioles now. Then again, look at the Blue Jays. It doesn't always work.

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They do have some horrific contracts on this team. None is worse than George Springer. He's due $24 million for the next two seasons. He's 34 years old and hitting .225/.310/.366. That's coming off last year which wasn't good either. You probably aren't trading Springer unless you hitch it to Vladdy Jr. but if you do that, you're getting less prospects back. I think the smart play is to hold onto him and hope he can somehow build some value back. If not, you're trying to win the next years anyway so who cares.

They need to move anyone and everyone. Someone might want Chris Bassitt (signed through next year at $22 mil/yr) or Kevin Gausman (signed through 2026 at $23 mil/yr)? Gausman is having a mediocre year but I could see someone wanting to try to fix him? Jose Berrios is a different challenge. He's only 30 but signed through 2028 (owed $86.8 million). I think you could find homes for all of these guys. You might not get great prospects but they can be moved and anything back would help move forward. Keeping them does nothing.

They've kind of started. Toronto DFA'd Kevin Kiermaier last week. The trade deadline is 15 days away. If they are serious about moving these players and stop clinging on to a team that has proven to be a failure, they need to start very soon.

This shit ain't easy. The Blue Jays built a great team in the early 1990's. That was a long time ago. They haven't been to a World Series in over 30 years. They have only made it to an ALCS twice in that time. It's so frustrating rebuilding after a rebuild that didn't work. But as painful as that is, it's the only path forward. The Orioles and Yankees have such a huge edge in that division over the rest of the decade. If the Red Sox ever spend money again, you can't count them out either. 

The only way forward for the Blue Jays is to go backwards.