Blue Jays Fans’Concern: Will Infield Logjam Impact…
While this is not going to be earth-shattering news for anyone, it’s something that needs to be said once again: the 2024 Toronto Blue Jays were MLB’s biggest disappointment.
Entering the season, the Blue Jays looked – at least on paper – to be a club capable of yet another playoff run. An offensive core made up of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette is nothing to scoff at, and a starting rotation that was one of baseball’s best in 2023 was set to return in full force.
Instead of putting together an even semi-competent unit, the Blue Jays fell flat on their faces. Bichette struggled through inconsistencies and injuries, the rotation couldn’t quite replicate their ’23 performances and the bullpen fully fell apart as the year rolled on.
It wasn’t pretty.
Looking ahead, both Guerrero and Bichette are entering what’s going to be their walk years, as each superstar is going to become an unrestricted free agent at the conclusion of the 2025 campaign. This puts an immense amount of pressure on the organization to field a winning team before their contention window closes.
The Blue Jays have a ton of items on their upcoming offseason to-do list, but there’s a lot more for them to do than just chase after Juan Soto (again) and rebuild their bullpen. Chief among those areas to address is their infield picture, which is unbelievably crammed as of right now.
Breaking Down the Blue Jays’ 2025 Infield Situation
When I say it’s crammed, that almost feels like a bit of an understatement. Looking strictly at players who are on the current 40-man roster, here’s who will be vying for playing time around the infield in 2025:
- Addison Barger
- Bo Bichette
- Ernie Clement
- Luis De Los Santos
- Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
- Spencer Horwitz
- Leo Jimenez
- Orelvis Martinez
- Davis Schneider
- Will Wagner
Not all of these players will be able to make the roster out of spring training. Some won’t need to compete, but there are quite a few of them who don’t have guaranteed roles heading into spring of 2025.
Who’s Locked In to a Spot?
Right off the bat, both Bichette and Guerrero are good to go.
Despite the fact that Bichette had easily his worst season as a big leaguer, he’s still a two-time All-Star and the AL leaders in hits in two of the past four years. 2024 was an injury-plagued season for him, but even when he was healthy, he managed to hit just four home runs while posting a .225 average and 71 OPS+. More on him in a moment.
Guerrero, 25, silenced all of the haters who thought he’d never return to his 2021 MVP-caliber form. He hit 30 home runs while driving in 103 runs, posted a career-high .323 batting average and had a 166 OPS+, just one point lower than his outstanding season in ’21 when he finished runner up to Shohei Ohtani in the MVP voting.
