Report: Blue Jays fielding trade calls about Guerrero, Bichette

The Toronto Blue Jays' front office appears to be busy behind the scenes.

Toronto has been getting calls from opposing clubs about first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and shortstop Bo Bichette, sources told The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.

Rosenthal writes that "it makes little sense" for the Blue Jays to trade either of their prized stars, but neither player has signed a long-term contract extension two years from free agency.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins seemed to pour some cold water on the rumors about Bichette while speaking to reporters Tuesday.

"(Bo)'s a really good player in a market that doesn't have a great deal of position players," Atkins said, according to TSN's Scott Mitchell. "We are very fortunate to have him, and he is our shortstop moving forward. Rumors, speculation, there's usually something (to that), but in our case, Bo is our shortstop moving forward."

The 24-year-old Guerrero finished in the 89th percentile or better in hard-hit percentage, exit velocity, and a number of other underlying offensive metrics last season despite posting his lowest OPS (.788) since his rookie year.

Guerrero, who also struggled in the field after winning a Gold Glove in 2022, is set to earn $20.4 million next season through arbitration.

Meanwhile, Bichette is coming off another strong campaign. The 25-year-old had at least 175 hits for the third straight season and posted an .814 OPS in 135 games. The two-time All-Star showed major improvement in the field, making 15 fewer errors than he did in 2022 while increasing his defensive runs saved from minus-16 to plus-five.

Bichette is set to earn a little over $12 million next season after he reached a three-year, $33.6-million pact with the Blue Jays last February to avoid arbitration.

The reported interest in Guerrero and Bichette comes one day after the Blue Jays were mentioned as one of the teams chasing free-agent two-way star Shohei Ohtani.