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Phillies Claim Jose Cuas Off Waivers

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September 7: The Phillies announced a quartet of roster moves in advance of their game with the Marlins, as catcher Aramis Garcia is joining the big league roster after his contract was selected from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.  Right-hander Jose Cuas is also joining the organization on a waiver claim from the Blue Jays and has been assigned to Triple-A.  In corresponding moves, Philadelphia designated right-hander Nick Nelson for assignment and placed infielder Rodolfo Castro on the 60-day injured list.  Castro was first called up from Triple-A before the IL placement, and it was already known that his season would be over after he tore a thumb ligament at the end of August.

This is the second time this season that Cuas has changed teams via the waiver wire, as the Blue Jays claimed him off the Cubs’ roster back in June.  Cuas tossed three innings across four appearances for Toronto before the Jays DFA’ed him earlier this week, and the righty has a rough 7.71 ERA in 16 1/3 total innings this season with the Blue Jays and Cubs.  It has been a big step down from the 3.84 ERA Cuas posted over 103 innings with the Royals and Cubs during the 2022-23 seasons, and even that respectable number was undermined by some shaky secondary metrics.

MLBTR Podcast: Matt Chapman’s Extension, Star Prospect Promotions, Bichette’s Future In Toronto

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The latest episode of the MLB Trade Rumors Podcast is now live on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and wherever you get your podcasts! Make sure you subscribe as well! You can also use the player at this link to listen, if you don’t use Spotify or Apple for podcasts.

This week, pinch-hitting host Mark Polishuk is joined by Steve Adams of MLB Trade Rumors to discuss…

Plus, we answer your questions, including…

  • What the heck is up with the AL wild card?  Is Minnesota going to be able to hold off the Tigers, or anyone else?  K.C. made them look pedestrian and Detroit is, scarily enough, beginning to figure things out. (49:25)

Check out our past episodes!

The podcast intro and outro song “So Long” is provided courtesy of the band Showoff.  Check out their Facebook page here!

Bichette On Future In Toronto, Long-Term Goals

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Throughout a disappointing season for the Blue Jays, the long-term future of stars Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been a focal point. Rumors surrounding the pair of second-generation stars dominated headlines early in the summer as the Jays struggled, though they were somewhat quelled by GM Ross Atkins saying in early June that trading either Guerrero or Bichette “doesn’t make any sense” for the organization.

Even as their 2024 playoff hopes dwindled, the Jays only sold off impending free agents in advance of the trade deadline. Yusei Kikuchi, Danny Jansen, Yimi Garcia and Trevor Richards were all on the move. Bichette, Guerrero, Chris Bassitt, Kevin Gausman and others stayed put, with the clear indication being that the Blue Jays hope to retool this offseason and get back on track to contend in 2025.

Bichette and Guerrero are only controlled through the end of the 2025 season, which has brought continued speculation about the possibility of one or both players being moved this winter. Some of the Guerrero speculation has died down in the weeks since the trade deadline, though. USA Today’s Bob Nightengale reported after the deadline that the team still hoped to sign Guerrero long-term. Bassitt appeared on Chris Rose’s podcast and voiced his belief that even though Guerrero has not yet signed an extension, he indeed wants to be in Toronto long-term. Now, it appears Bichette’s teammates needn’t do any talking or speculating on his behalf. He’s publicly making it clear that he hopes to stay in Toronto alongside his longtime friend, Guerrero, and win a title as a Blue Jay.

“When I had time to think about what I want, basically, my ultimate goal really is to play with Vladdy (Guerrero Jr.) forever, to win a championship with him and to do that with this organization,” Bichette tells Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “I’m 100 percent committed to doing whatever it takes to accomplish those things. That’s where I’m at.”

As Davidi explores at length in a piece Jays fans, in particular, will want to read in its entirety, that sets the 2024-25 offseason as one of the most pivotal in franchise history with regard to player personnel decisions. There’s nothing that says the Jays can’t let Guerrero and/or Bichette reach free agency, test the market, and then re-sign both players anyhow — but it’s certainly an easier and more controlled process when they’re not competing with an open market and other potential bidders for the 26-year-old Bichette and 25-year-old Guerrero.

From a payroll perspective, the Jays should be able to make dual extensions for the pair of former All-Stars work. Jose Berrios and Yariel Rodriguez are the only players signed beyond the 2026 season. Berrios, Rodriguez, the aforementioned Gausman and George Springer are the only four Blue Jays on guaranteed contract beyond the 2025 campaign. Toronto opened the 2024 season with a roughly $225MM payroll, currently sits at about $217MM after their deadline sell-off, and only has about $124.5MM in commitments for the ’25 season at the moment, per RosterResource.

That number notably does not include an arbitration raise for Guerrero — a figure that’ll likely shoot well beyond $25MM on the heels of his outstanding 2024 season. Arb raises for Jordan Romano, Erik Swanson, Genesis Cabrera, Daulton Varsho, Alejandro Kirk, Dillon Tate, Alek Manoah and Ernie Clement could all be in the offing as well, though some members of that class will be non-tendered or traded.

Even if the bulk of that class is retained, it’s reasonable to think that between arb raises and rounding out the roster with league-minimum players, the Blue Jays could still come in around $185-190MM in total commitments. New contracts for Guerrero and/or Bichette wouldn’t necessarily need to come with substantial raises until the 2026 season. That’d leave $35-40MM for the Blue Jays to still augment their existing roster even while simply adhering to last year’s payroll levels.

Of course, nothing says that the payroll can’t and won’t rise. The Jays are owned by a multi-billion dollar company — Rogers Communications — in theory giving them room to pursue just about any player they want (as we saw with last offseason’s earnest pursuit of Shohei Ohtani). There’s no firm indication yet that they plan to be aggressive bidders for top free agents like Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes, Alex Bregman or Willy Adames, but there’s also no reason to think they can’t swim in the deepest waters the free agent pool has to offer.

The question facing the Jays will be one of how much they want to tie up in long-term allocations. Extending either Guerrero or Bichette would presumably require signing said players well into the 2030s. So would signing Soto, while the remaining top names on the market could all sign through somewhere in the 2030-32 range if their markets come together as hoped. Long-term deals for homegrown talents like Bichette and Guerrero will only maintain the status quo; it’s clear there are further reinforcements needed, so Atkins and president Mark Shapiro — assuming both stay in place after this year’s disappointing campaign — will need to balance potential extensions with the need to further fortify a roster that fell woefully shy of expectations in 2024.

Obvious as it seems, it also bears emphasizing that Bichette’s pledge only carries so much weight. He doesn’t have any no-trade protection under the three-year, $33.6MM contract he signed to buy out his three arbitration seasons. He has no direct say over whether he’ll even be in Toronto next year, let alone for the next six, seven, eight, nine or ten years. At the same time, his assertion to Davidi plainly underscores that he’s not only open to but hopeful of signing a long-term deal to stay in Canada alongside his longtime teammate and friend.

Bichette speaks to Davidi about reflecting during his current injury absence, thinking back to his A-ball days with Guerrero when the two were fresh-faced 18-year-olds talking about winning as many championships as possible together. He adds that through reflection, he’s “learned a lot more about myself through failure,” referencing his 2024 struggles, both in terms of what he hopes to accomplish on the field and as a leader in the Blue Jays’ clubhouse. (Again, Jays fans are encouraged to read the interview in full, as it’s rife with candid quotes and earnest self-assessment from Bichette.)

The 2024 season has indeed been an ugly one for Bichette. Even before sustaining the calf injury that’s sidelined him for more than a month (his second calf strain of the season), he was stumbling through the worst season of his professional career. In 331 plate appearances, he hit just .222/.275/.320 with four home runs and five stolen bases. Bichette’s 19% strikeout rate is actually lower than his career 20.6% mark, but while he was still making frequent contact, the quality of his batted balls took a nosedive. Bichette has career-low marks in exit velocity, barrel rate and hard-hit rate this season. His line-drive rate is the third-lowest of his career. His ground-ball rate is the third-highest. He hit only six infield flies in 601 plate appearances in 2023 but popped up five times in this year’s 331 plate appearances. Bichette’s contact rate on pitches in the strike zone was a career-best 91.7% — but his contact rate on balls off the plate was a career-worst 57.5%.

Prior to his ’24 struggles, Bichette was one of the most consistently impressive hitters in the American League. From 2019-23, he slashed a combined .299/.340/.487, averaging 27 homers, 40 doubles, two triples and 16 steals per 162 games played. Bichette may not have had top-of-the-scale power, speed or contact skills, but every component of his offensive tool kit played out at an above-average level, and while he’s never been a plus shortstop he’s also only had one year with truly poor defensive grades (2022).

This year’s struggles will complicate any extension talks with Bichette, of course. With a typical season, he’d have been on track to be a free agent heading into his age-28 season — a middle infielder with plus offense at a younger-than-typical age for free agency. Talk of a $250MM+ or even $300MM contract could have been in play. Such lofty heights probably aren’t attainable on the heels of a career-worst year at the plate that’s now seen multiple calf injuries keep him on the bench for two to three months. Finding a middle ground could be difficult, though an extension that allows Bichette to increase his earning power — whether via opt-out opportunities or perhaps via a series of vesting options, a la Carlos Correa in Minnesota — could offer create alternatives to help bridge the gap.

For now, the goal will simply be to get back on the field in 2024. Bichette tells Davidi that getting back on the field, knowing the injury is behind him and feeling like himself again will all be a mental boost heading into the offseason. Sportsnet’s Arden Zwelling tweets that Bichette is slated to begin a rehab assignment with the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate tomorrow, which will likely last four to five games and include time at both shortstop and designated hitter. That could at least give Bichette two weeks to feel confident that his calf is back to full strength, but the bigger questions — for both him and the organization — are looming as the winter approaches.

Bo Bichette To Begin Rehab Assignment Tuesday

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Bo Bichette is scheduled to begin a Triple-A rehab assignment beginning on Tuesday, the Blue Jays told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi and Arden Zwelling).  Bichette has been on the injured list since suffering a right calf strain on July 19, which was the third calf-related issue for Bichette within about a month’s time.  It wasn’t clear at the time of the placement if Bichette would be able to return before the season was over or if the Jays might just shut him down, but it looks like the shortstop should be able to make it back for at least a bit more action before the 2024 campaign wraps.

While the Jays are well out of contention, returning to the field should provide some peace of mind for Bichette about his health as he wraps up the worst season of his six-year career.  The two-time All-Star hit only .222/.275/.320 over 331 plate appearances, delivering a 69 wRC+ that was far below his previous career mark of 127.  Bichette’s turn from star to replacement-level player was one of many reasons behind the Jays’ rough season, and it has raised fresh speculation about Bichette’s long-term future in Toronto, or even if he’ll still be a Blue Jay by next Opening Day.  These questions obviously won’t be answered in the small sample size of however many MLB games Bichette is able to play in September, but returning to the Jays lineup and hitting like his old self would allow him to take something positive from an otherwise lost year.

Blue Jays Shut Down Jordan Romano For Remainder Of 2024 Season

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Jordan Romano’s 2024 season is officially over, as Blue Jays manager John Schneider told reporters (including Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi) Friday on that Romano won’t be activated from the 60-day injured list before the regular season is out.  The closer underwent an arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow in early July that came with a post-procedure shutdown of period of at least six weeks.  That initial timeline has now stretched into September, and while Romano has resumed throwing, “it just didn’t work out with the number of games we have left and what he is going to have to check off the list in order to get back,” Schneider said.

The news closes the book on an altogether disastrous season for the 31-year-old, who posted a 6.59 ERA over only 13 2/3 innings of Major League action.  Romano began the year on the 15-day IL due to some elbow inflammation that developed in Spring Training, and simply wasn’t very effective once he made his return to the mound in mid-April.  His last appearance of the season came on May 29, as he returned to the 15-day IL shortly thereafter and there was some concern that Romano had a more serious UCL-related injury before it was decided that the arthroscopic surgery was all that was required.

Schneider said that Romano will keep throwing and should be set for a normal offseason, so that at least represents some good news on the longer-term health front.  However, it naturally leaves Romano as one of the many question marks the Jays face for 2025 as they figure out how to rebound from a very disappointing campaign.  The Blue Jays will have to overhaul a bullpen that was one of the worst in baseball, and figuring out how to approach this overhaul is trickier since the club doesn’t exactly know what it is getting from its former closer.

Davidi suggests that the Blue Jays could even consider non-tendering Romano if the team is just too concerned about his health.  This would seem like a pretty aggressive move considering how well Romano pitched from 2020-23, and the right-hander isn’t overly expensive on paper — Romano is entering his final year of arbitration eligibility, and his lack of production in 2024 means that he’ll receive a pretty minimal raise over his current $7.75MM salary.  That said, the roughly $8MM Romano figures to land in 2025 salary could be put to better use on relievers who have fewer injury concerns hanging over them heading into another season.  Pursuing a trade (albeit a sell-low type of trade) or a non-tender might also be viable if Toronto doesn’t plan to retain Romano once he becomes eligible for free agency.

Blue Jays Outright Paolo Espino

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The Blue Jays have sent right-hander Paolo Espino outright to Triple-A Buffalo, according to his transactions tracker at MLB.com. He had been designated for assignment a few days ago when the club claimed righty Dillon Tate off waivers. Espino has the right to elect free agency but it’s not yet clear if he’s chosen to do so.

Espino, 37, signed a minor league deal with the Jays in the winter. He was added to the roster about a week into the season and made two long relief appearances at that time. The first one was pretty good, as he tossed two scoreless innings, but the second one saw him allow four earned runs in 2 2/3.

He was optioned to Buffalo after that and wasn’t recalled until months later. He made a spot start on July 31 just after the Jays had traded Yusei Kikuchi, Yimi García, Nate Pearson and Trevor Richards, leaving the pitching staff in a state of flux. Espino ate four innings in that spot start but also allowed four earned runs, increasing his season-long ERA to 8.31 before getting optioned back to Buffalo again.

The Jays have since bolstered their pitching staff by letting Bowden Francis take hold of a rotation spot and have filled their bullpen via various waiver claims and small trades. With expanded September rosters, the odds of them needing a spot starter such as Espino are a bit lower. They also have Jake Bloss, part of their Kikuchi return, in the Buffalo rotation now.

All those factors led to Espino getting nudged off the roster and it’s not too surprising that he didn’t get claimed by another club. He has been a solid innings eater in the past, throwing over 100 innings in both 2022 and 2023 while suiting up for the Nationals in a swing role. But given his age and 5.18 ERA in Triple-A this year, there wouldn’t be too much use for him right now. Clubs in contention will have set their sights higher while the others will be using the next few weeks to evaluate younger arms.

Blue Jays Claim Emmanuel Ramírez, Designate José Cuas

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The Blue Jays have claimed right-hander Emmanuel Ramírez off waivers from the Marlins, per announcements from both clubs. The Fish had designated him for assignment earlier this week. The Jays announced that Ramírez has been optioned to Triple-A Buffalo and that fellow righty José Cuas has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Ramírez, 30, made his big league debut with the Marlins this season but pitched to a rough 6.97 ERA in 20 2/3 innings out of the Miami bullpen. He’s been considerably better with their Triple-A affiliate in Jacksonville, recording a 3.76 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and 9.6% walk rate in 40 2/3 frames. He posted similar numbers in a 2023 season split between the Yankees’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates.

Ramírez has averaged 93.9 mph on his four-seamer and paired that with a splitter and lesser-used slider to round out a three-pitch repertoire. He has a full slate of minor league options remaining, despite his age, so he could be a flexible depth arm for the Jays next season if they opt to keep him on the 40-man roster. For now, he’ll get an audition in the final three-plus weeks of regular-season play.

Cuas, also 30, was a waiver claim out of the Cubs organization earlier in the summer. He wound up pitching only three MLB innings with the Jays and allowing three runs. The rest of his time in the organization came in Triple-A Buffalo, where he was roughed up for a dozen runs in 15 2/3 innings of work.

From 2022-23, Cuas was a solid, if command-challenged reliever who notched a 3.84 ERA in 103 innings between the Royals and Cubs. Kansas City traded him to Chicago in a ’23 deadline swap that sent designated hitter/outfielder Nelson Velázquez back to the Royals. Cuas posted good results down the stretch with the Cubs despite a high walk rate, but the glut of free passes caught up to him this season. He’s walked at least 12% of his opponents in all three of his big league seasons and also plunked an alarming 3.2% of the batters he’s faced. In 17 1/3 innings this year, Cuas has a 7.71 ERA.

Cuas will now head to waivers, where all 29 other clubs will have the chance to claim him. He has a minor league option remaining beyond the current season and has demonstrated an ability to miss bats in bunches in spite of pedestrian velocity, thanks largely to a sweeper that generates huge whiff rates.

Blue Jays Claim Dillon Tate

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The Blue Jays announced this afternoon that they’ve claimed right-hander Dillon Tate off waivers from the Orioles and optioned him to Triple-A. Right-hander Paolo Espino was designated for assignment to make room for Tate on the 40-man roster.

Tate, 30, was taken by the Rangers as the fourth overall pick in the 2015 draft and was a part of two blockbuster trades before he made his MLB debut. First, he was swapped from Texas to the Bronx in the deal that made Carlos Beltran a Ranger in 2016, and then two years later he was dealt from the Yankees to the Orioles at the 2018 trade deadline as part of the package that sent Zack Britton to New York. Once he joined his third organization, Tate made his big league debut in fairly short order when he debuted with Baltimore during the 2019 season. That first season in the majors did not go especially well, as he pitched to a lackluster 6.43 ERA in 21 innings of work.

After struggling to start his big league career, Tate managed to settle in over the next few years to become a reliable member of the club’s bullpen. From 2020 to 2022, the right-hander pitched to a solid 3.65 ERA with a 3.88 FIP in 141 appearances, becoming a stable middle relief option for Baltimore. That includes a particularly strong performance during the 2022 season, when the Orioles surged back over .500 for the first time since the 2016 season. That year, Tate was excellent with a 3.05 ERA and 3.28 FIP in 73 2/3 innings of work. While he struck out just 20.5% of opponents that year, he made up for that with a walk rate of just 5.5% and an elite 57.4% groundball rate.

Unfortunately, things went off the rails for Tate following that excellent 2022 season. Elbow and forearm issues wiped out the right-hander’s 2023 season in its entirety, and when he returned earlier this year he didn’t appear to be the same pitcher he was in 2022. In 33 1/3 innings with the big league club this year, Tate struggled to a 4.59 ERA and saw his strikeout rate drop to just 15.5% while his groundball rate dropped to a diminished (but still excellent) 50.9% figure. Those lackluster results and shaky peripherals were enough to convince the club to designate Tate for assignment just a few days ago, and now he’ll look to get back on track with the Orioles’ division rival Blue Jays. If Tate’s time in Toronto goes well, they’ll have the opportunity to retain the right-hander for the 2025 season via arbitration.

As for Espino, the 37-year-old righty has spent the 2024 season with the Blue Jays after signing a minor league deal with the club back in December. He’s pitched 8 2/3 innings for the club to brutal results with an 8.31 ERA and 9.06 FIP across three appearances, and his 5.18 ERA in 17 starts at the Triple-A level hasn’t been much better. The veteran hurler sports a 5.12 ERA and 5.06 FIP in 265 2/3 career innings of work spread across parts of six seasons since he made his big league debut back in 2017, and figures to return to Triple-A with Toronto to continue eating innings in the likely event that he clears waivers.

Joey Votto Announces Retirement

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Joey Votto has stepped away from baseball. The star first baseman, who had been on a minor league contract with the Blue Jays, announced his retirement on Instagram on Wednesday evening. He didn’t get to the majors with his hometown team but played an illustrious 17-year career with the Reds.

Votto provided a lengthy statement alongside a brief video of him departing Sahlen Field, home of the Jays’ Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo. Votto thanked his family, various former teammates and coaches, and the fans. He expressed some regret that he wasn’t able to make it to the big leagues with the Jays, adding that he’s “just not good anymore” before thanking the Canadian fanbase for their support and expressing his love for Cincinnati. “I was myself in this sport. I was able to be my best self. I played this sport with every last ounce of my body, heart, and mind. Thank you for everything,” he concluded.

The Reds drafted Votto out of a Toronto prep school in 2002. He’d emerged as one of Baseball America’s top 50 prospects by the time he hit his way to Triple-A five years later. Votto debuted as a September call-up in ’07. He hit the ground running in 24 games and would break through as their everyday first baseman the following year.

Votto hit .297/.368/.506 with 24 homers and 32 doubles in his first full season. He finished runner-up to Cubs catcher Geovany Soto in Rookie of the Year balloting. Votto emerged as an elite hitter by year two, hitting .322/.414/.567 with 25 longballs and 38 doubles. He finished in the top 10 among qualifiers in all three slash stats.

That kicked off a nearly decade-long run during which Votto was among the game’s best players. He had arguably his best season in 2010. Votto led the majors with a .424 on-base percentage and topped the National League with an even .600 slugging mark. He hit .324 with 37 homers and a career-best 113 runs batted in. It was a dominating performance by counting and rate stats alike that nabbed him a rather convincing win over Albert Pujols and Carlos González in NL MVP balloting. Votto was the best player on a Cincinnati team that won 91 games and an NL Central title.

It was the first of four straight seasons in which the lefty hitter topped the NL in on-base percentage. He led the league in walks every year from 2011-13. His extraordinarily patient approach occasionally made him a target of criticism among some fans who preferred he were more aggressive, but Votto also filled a prototypical run producer role. He ranked 20th in RBI and 21st in homers among MLB hitters between 2010-13. Among hitters with 1500+ plate appearances, only Miguel Cabrera and Joe Mauer hit for a better average. Votto led the majors in OBP and ranked seventh in slugging. Votto made the All-Star Game in all four seasons and thrice finished in the top 10 in MVP voting. Cincinnati made the playoffs in three of those years, although they never advanced past the Division Series.

Midway through that run, the Reds committed to Votto as the face of their franchise. They signed him to a 10-year, $225MM extension early in the 2012 season. It remains the biggest investment in the organization’s history. While the team didn’t have a ton of success over the decade, that’s not any fault of their first baseman. He remained an impact hitter until the tail end of the contract.

A quad injury wiped out the bulk of Votto’s 2014 campaign. He returned at full strength the following year, hitting .314/.459/.541 to snag a third-place MVP finish. He would lead the NL in on-base percentage in each of the three seasons after that, earning two more top 10 MVP placements in the process. Between 2015-18, he hit .312/.442/.525 with 106 homers while walking more often than he struck out.

The 2018 season was the final of Votto’s six All-Star campaigns. His production tailed off between 2019-20 and it seemed he’d firmly entered the decline phase of his career. While that was the case to some extent, Votto had one more excellent year ahead of him. He rebounded with a surprising 36-homer outburst (tied for the second-most he hit in any season) with a .266/.375/.563 slash in 2021. That proved to be his last strong season, as he stumbled to replacement level numbers while battling shoulder issues between 2022-23.

Votto earned a well-deserved salute from Cincinnati fans in his final game at Great American Ball Park last September. The guaranteed portion of his contract wrapped up and the Reds made the obvious call to buy him out in lieu of a costly club option for 2024. Votto signed the minor league deal with the Jays during the only free agent trip of his career. He suffered an ankle injury in his first Spring Training game, keeping him on the IL well into July. Votto returned to action midway through the month but hit .143 in 15 Triple-A contests before deciding it was time to move on.

While that keeps him from ever appearing in a Jays uniform at Rogers Centre, it allows him to retire having spent his entire MLB career with one team. He’s one of the best players in Reds’ history and is among the most productive first basemen in league history. Votto will surely garner serious Hall of Fame consideration when his name appears on the ballot in five years.

By Jay Jaffe’s JAWS metric (designed to provide a comparison point for players against Hall of Famers), Votto ranks 12th among first basemen. The 11 players above him are either in the Hall of Fame or, in the cases of Pujols and Cabrera, locks for induction when first eligible. The player just behind Votto, Rafael Palmeiro, is not in the Hall, largely because of his ties to performance-enhancing drugs. The following three players — Willie McCovey, Todd Helton and Eddie Murray — were all inducted.

Votto didn’t provide quite the level of power associated with a Hall of Fame first baseman. He steps away with 356 homers (29th at the position) and 1144 runs batted in (49th). Those are no small accomplishments for the vast majority of players, of course, but Votto’s overall excellence was driven primarily by his on-base ability. He finishes his career with a .294 average and a huge .409 on-base percentage. He led the NL in the latter category on seven occasions.

While Votto surprisingly never won a Silver Slugger award — overlapping in the NL with Pujols and Paul Goldschmidt during his prime played a role — he had six top 10 MVP finishes. He earned a Gold Glove in 2011 and the aforementioned MVP honors the year prior. Baseball Reference valued Votto’s career around 64 wins above replacement, while FanGraphs credited him with 59 WAR. That’s right at the threshold at which position players tend to receive legitimate Hall of Fame consideration.

Votto would certainly have offers to stay involved in the game if he wishes to do so. He complemented his litany of on-field accomplishments with a cerebral approach to hitting and a sarcastic wit that’d no doubt provide coaching or media opportunities if he wanted to take them. Votto didn’t tip his hand in his retirement announcement about any plans for the future. We at MLBTR congratulate him on a fantastic career and wish him the best in his post-playing days.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Blue Jays Notes: Bassitt, Guerrero, Bichette

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The Blue Jays are playing out the stretch on a rough season. Toronto is well below .500 and seems headed for a last place finish, a very disappointing outcome for a team coming off consecutive playoff berths that believed they were squarely in the midst of their contention window. Toronto had little choice but to sell at the deadline once it became clear they weren’t going to come close to the postseason.

Even as they shopped veteran pieces, the front office wasn’t keen on a huge overhaul. Most of the Jays’ trades shipped off impending free agents (e.g. Yusei Kikuchi, Justin Turner, Yimi García, Trevor Richards, Danny Jansen, Kevin Kiermaier). They moved a couple role players under contract or team control beyond this season, shipping out Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Nate Pearson. Yet they never seemed close to dealing any core players whom they could keep around for 2025.

Chris Bassitt is one such veteran. The right-hander is in the second season of a three-year, $63MM free agent deal. He’s playing on an $18MM salary and will make a matching amount next year. Bassitt finished tenth in Cy Young balloting a season ago. This year’s work has been solid but not as impressive, as he carries a 4.34 ERA through 139 frames.

There was an argument for the Jays to shop Bassitt this summer, especially if they could find a taker for his entire ’25 salary. While he remains an effective pitcher, he’ll be going into his age-36 campaign on a roster that needs a lot of work next offseason. Sportsnet’s Ben Nicholson-Smith reported five days before the deadline that the Jays had no intention of moving either Bassitt or Kevin Gausman, though. Neither pitcher found himself in any trade rumors of substance.

In an interview with Chris Rose of Jomboy Media last week (YouTube link), Bassitt said that the Toronto front office made clear early in the process that he would not be traded. “There (were) a lot of articles and a lot of people saying that I was leaving or should be leaving. They told me I wasn’t leaving,” Bassitt said. While he didn’t specify the exact time of that conversation, he added that he “knew for a while” in advance of the deadline that he wasn’t moving. Bassitt acknowledged some disappointment that he wasn’t in position to battle for a playoff spot this year, though he added that he’s optimistic about the organization’s desire to make another effort to compete in 2025.

Talented as Bassitt is, he’s only the third-most important Blue Jays player who is on track for free agency after next season. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette will be two of the headlining pieces of the 2025-26 free agent class. GM Ross Atkins made clear early in deadline season that the Jays had no interest in trading either. There’s no indication they ever seriously reconsidered even as the team fell firmly out of ’24 playoff contention.

Asked by Rose whether the Jays should’ve traded or extended Guerrero this summer, Bassitt expressed some optimism that the Jays will be able to keep him around for the long haul. “I don’t know this, I don’t want to speak for him on this, but I think Vladdy wants to be a Blue Jay for the rest of his career. I don’t think he wants to leave,” the pitcher opined. “I don’t think it’s a super, super, super rush to get an extension done. They obviously didn’t trade him because they don’t want him to be in another uniform. … I think both sides want to be together. I don’t think it’s a bad relationship.”

Guerrero is playing this year on a $19.9MM salary. He should exceed $25MM and could push near $30MM for his final arbitration season. After a slow start to the season, Guerrero has been on a massive tear since the beginning of May. He’s up to a .317/.390/.552 slash with 26 home runs across 543 plate appearances. This has been Guerrero’s best year since his MVP runner-up campaign in 2021. He’s on track to get to free agency in advance of his age-27 season and could command a deal that exceeds $300MM.

Over the weekend, USA Today’s Bob Nightengale wrote that the Jays indeed remain hopeful of working out an extension with Guerrero before he gets to free agency. Nightengale suggests there’s less optimism about an extension with Bichette, writing that the Jays could field trade offers on the shortstop during the upcoming winter if they don’t feel they’ll make progress on an extension.

This would arguably be a poor time for either a trade or an extension. Bichette has had by far the worst season of his career. He’s hitting .222/.275/.320 with only four homers through 331 trips to the plate. The two-time All-Star has had a pair of injured list stints because of right calf issues. He has been out of action for exactly a month with a notable calf strain and seems unlikely to return until some point in September.

Unlike Guerrero, Bichette has a fixed salary next year. He’ll make $16.5MM in the final season of the three-year deal he signed to buy out all his arbitration years. There’d still be ample trade interest if the Jays shopped him. The free agent shortstop class, headlined by Willy Adames and Ha-Seong Kim, isn’t as barren as this past winter’s was. Things fall off quickly after Kim, though, and there aren’t many everyday shortstops who seem likely to be on the trade block. Bichette arguably still carries a higher offensive ceiling than any other shortstop who could reasonably be available in either free agency or trade.

Whether that’ll result in a deal remains to be seen. Atkins said as recently as last month that the Jays are hopeful of keeping Guerrero and Bichette for the long haul. Jon Heyman of the New York Post wrote shortly before the trade deadline that past extension talks with both players hadn’t made much progress. Heyman suggested at the time that the Jays didn’t have a great chance of extending Bichette — aligning with Nightengale’s recent report. Even if that is the case, trading Bichette would dig another hole for a team that believes it can rebound next season. Rookie Leo Jiménez has taken over shortstop in the past month. He’s hitting .221/.307/.368 with subpar strikeout (32.1%) and walk (5.5%) rates in 34 games.

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