Youngsters may move with the times
Whenever the Blue Jays talk about trying someone out at a new position it must be taken with a grain of salt. Just because it’s being discussed doesn’t mean it will become a reality.
Toronto’s front office likes to keep its options open. Athleticism and versatility have been prioritized during the rebuild as the Blue Jays attempt to maintain enough flexibility to accommodate future moves and protect against injuries.
That’s why some of the buzz in the media over the last several weeks about Cavan Biggio possibly transitioning to centre field was a bit overblown. Yes, the Blue Jays broached the subject with Biggio to gauge his comfort level, but no, there are no immediate plans to use him there with any kind of regularity.
Case in point: When Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo was asked Saturday afternoon about his candidates for the outfield, he went through a long list of names. Randal Grichuk, Teoscar Hernandez, Lourdes Gurriel Jr., Derek Fisher, Billy McKinney, Anthony Alford and Jonathan Davis got mentioned. The one who didn’t was Biggio.
That prompted a followup question about whether Biggio was being considered at all for centre. Montoyo didn’t entirely rule out a position change, but he also made it clear putting Biggio in centre is not an immediate priority. The Jays simply want to take a look.
“I’m not going to say he’s not going to play centre, in spring training we might see how he does,” Montoyo said. “We already know he can play right or left. He played a really good second base, so it’s not like I want to take him out of there, but it gives me more flexibility if he can play centre.”
Biggio’s situation is somewhat like Hernandez’s. During the winter meetings in December, general manager Ross Atkins suggested Hernandez might get some reps at first base. Atkins wasn’t saying a move was imminent, he seemed to be tossing it out there as an idea more than anything else, and yet some outlets treated it like gospel.
Well, six weeks have gone by and Hernandez still hasn’t gone through any extensive drills at first. The 27-year-old might play a couple games there in the spring, just like Biggio might see a little bit of action in centre, but this is as much about providing options for the future than it is about managing the upcoming season. If a true position change was in the works, both players would require a lot more reps than that.
The Jays’ young core deserves credit for being flexible. Bo Bichette was open about his willingness to change positions if Toronto acquired a big-name shortstop this winter. The plan is for Guerrero to remain at third, but the organization isn’t expecting much of a pushback if there comes a time when that stance must change.
Biggio has only played centre field once before in his career, at any level, and that didn’t stop him from informing the Jays he’d be willing to give it a shot. In isolation, these things might seem somewhat irrelevant, but it goes to show the young stars can put ego aside for the betterment of the team.
“Ross and I had a conversation in probably November, just kind of as an idea,” said Biggio, who posted a .793 OPS as a rookie.
“I think my position depends on a lot of different things going on with our team, positionally. I’m going to have the same mindset that I’ve always had about it … Wherever I can play and prove I can help the team, it just gives Charlie that many more options for putting other guys in the lineup who can help. It’s my job to provide him with those options.”
The Jays talked a big game entering this off-season about making a “substantial upgrade” to the starting rotation. There was a lot of skepticism about the earnestness of those claims, but in the end, Toronto came through by signing Hyun-Jin Ryu.
Behind the scenes, similar bold statements were made during those initial weeks of the off-season about other free agents such as Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon.
It was never suggested that Toronto was a serious contender for either player in the current market, but the point the team was trying to get across was it was aiming high and intended to strike when the time was right. Resources, Toronto claimed, were not an issue.
Considering the names, most of that seemed like talk and not much more, but perhaps it can be viewed in a different light after last month’s signing of Ryu.
This doesn’t seem like the time a rebuilding team would make a move for Kris Bryant or Francisco Lindor, both of whom have just two years of control remaining, but there have been internal conversations about both. Options, big and small, continue to be explored.
The only reason any of that can even be discussed is the willingness of the rookies to keep an open mind.
The Blue Jays aren’t done building and there’s a good chance a year from now the configuration on the field looks a lot different than it does today.
“It’s really cool to see the front office realize what we had,” Bichette said.
“We all thought in the clubhouse that we had a chance to be good this year, we wanted to take a step forward and we wanted the front office’s help with that. For them to kind of agree with us and show us that with the moves they made is really exciting.”