Ross Atkins shoots down Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette trade rumours: ‘It just doesn’t make any sense’

The Toronto Blue Jays currently sit last in the AL East as the organization has struggled out of the gate to generate offense consistently as well as a bullpen that is dealing with injuries and/or poor performance, a stark contrast to the success the group found last year.

That has led some to believe a potential rebuild or trade-off is on the horizon, with Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reporting last month that a rival executive believes the Blue Jays front office could trade two of their best players in Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette as early as this season.

“I don’t think they’re opposed to it… They’ve talked to teams about it. The asks were ridiculous, but I think they’re going to try to retool a lot, and using those guys to get pieces may be the way to do it” Both Guerrero Jr. and Bichette are slated to hit free agency following the 2025 season and will be in line for sizeable raises on the open market.

In a recent interview with the MLB Network Radio, Atkins addressed the Blue Jays’ current stance on trading either player and the executives’ comments from Feinsand’s article.

“Both of them, especially in May, have been solid,” said Atkins. “Of course, we have dialogue with them and that is something that will continue to do, we believe in them and their futures and hope there is a way they will play here for a long time… it doesn’t make any sense for us (to trade them), there will be occasional times that we talk to other executives that will ask if we consider, and we just say that it is not something we have spent any time on. Because they are so talented and such great teammates, they are attractive to other teams.”

Atkins finished the section by stating that he “was disappointed to see a report to see that another executive to comment about our team. It just doesn’t make sense.”

It has been an interesting campaign for both Guerrero Jr. and Bichette, as both players struggled out of the gate in terms of offensive production.

By the end of April, Guerrero Jr. owned a .229 average and a .678 OPS but since the start of May (not including today’s game), the right-handed batter owns a .366/.458/.475 slash line while putting forth a .422 BAbip and a .933 OPS with 17 walks compared to 16 strikeouts during that time.

While he isn’t hitting the long ball compared to previous campaigns, with just five homers on the year, he is starting to put the ball in play at a consistent rate and owns a 173 wRC+ since May 1st, rating ninth in the league while ranking second in terms of OBP.

Bichette is also producing at a higher clip since the start of May, putting forth a .269/.309/.394 slash line with a .703 OPS with three home runs and 14 RBIs. The shortstop has raised his OPS to .639 on the season and his average to .241 after struggling mightily at the plate through April.

Depending on how the Blue Jays fair over the next month and a half, the Blue Jays could become potential sellers on some other players on expiring contracts such as Yimi Garcia, Danny Jansen, Justin Turner, and Kevin Kiermaier but could also explore trading Guerrero Jr. and/0r Bichette should the front office deem a full tear down is in order.

The Blue Jays have won five of their last six games but only time will tell if the organization decides to stay in their current path or whether the tides change come the trade deadline and Guerrero Jr. or Bichette hit the trade block sooner rather than later.