KANSAS CITY – The moment Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio and Bo Bichette often talked about during their rapid ascents to the big-leagues at long last arrived Monday, the three of them up with the Toronto Blue Jays, the keys to the clubhouse dropped in their hands.
Let’s skip the banalities about new beginnings, the future arriving and cultural resets, because this 2019 season of pain has been solely in service of finding new players to deliver a rebirth. The talented trio has always been front and centre in that regard, each integral in the setting of a new organizational foundation.
This was always going to be about them.
Still, it’s noteworthy that Bichette only arrived as Marcus Stroman departed, the absence of the right-hander’s dominant presence opening up space in the clubhouse for new personalities to take charge of the room.
Guerrero, Biggio and Bichette – along with Danny Jansen, Ryan Borucki and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. – have been groomed for this, both by the organization and by each other. The last of the outsized stars that dominated the previous Blue Jays core left when Stroman was traded Sunday, peacing out with a commotion he described as “just kind of voicing my opinion” since he “didn’t like how a couple of things were handled about the process.”
Other versions described a wild scene featuring a profanity-laced rant, but to-MAY-toe, to-MAH-toe, right?
“It’s an emotional time,” said general manager Ross Atkins, stickhandling through the matter like Connor McDavid in traffic. “It’s so hard, especially for a player who’s been with one organization and been so successful here and this city and country was very important to him, and this organization was very important to him. So it was very emotional.”
More change on the roster looms ahead of Wednesday’s trade deadline, although Ken Giles’ unavailability for a second-straight day is complicating the potential return for the closer. Daniel Hudson, David Phelps and even Joe Biagini also remain in play, with Justin Smoak getting some tire-kicks, too.
As that plays out, well, it’s your team now, kids. Mould it as you see fit.
“Bringing a lot of wins,” Bichette, who collected a single in his first career at-bat and turned a pretty unassisted double play during a 7-3 win over the Kansas City Royals, said of what the trio used to imagine doing with the Blue Jays. “Me, Vladdy, Cavan, we all work pretty hard, all play pretty hard, we have an idea of what we want to be in this game and the type of things we want to accomplish. One of those things is winning a World Series. We’d always talk about, man we can get up there and kind of create a culture and create an atmosphere that’s fun to be around and win games, that’s what we’re trying to do. Hopefully we get started today.”
Fittingly, Biggio delivered the go-ahead blow with a solo shot in the eighth inning and added an insurance RBI single in the ninth, his third hit of the night in his first game as the presumptive leadoff hitter following the trade of Eric Sogard. The homer came after Guerrero had a Cheslor Cuthbert short-hopper skip off the edge of the glove and bound into left field, allowing two runs to score in the sixth inning to knot the game 3-3, a reminder that there are lots of growing pains to come.
Amid those, the Blue Jays have set things up for the threesome to lead way.
“We’re all pretty different,” said Bichette. “Vladdy’s smiling all the time, Cavan’s pretty I would say serious and very thoughtful about how he goes about the game, and I would say I’m an aggressive type of player, attitude, everything. But I would say we complement each other pretty well. We understand each other and we’ve taken the time to get to know each other, which is the big thing.”
The differences each add a needed dynamic in successful clubhouses, a balance of joy, fire and gravitas that can collectively help provide the pokes, prods and pick-me-ups necessary to survive the season’s grind.
Biggio smirked when Bichette’s description of him was relayed – “I wouldn’t say I’m too serious. I think he says that because I’m the oldest one,” he countered – but acknowledged the importance of the mix they bring.
“I don’t know about Vlad, but I was always there to put Bo in his place when he’s needed it sometimes,” Biggio said smiling. “Bo’s come a long way, Vlad’s come a long way and I’ve come a long way and we’ve helped each other in different ways.
“Our clubhouses (in the minors) have been really fun and really competitive. It’s very important to be all-in on baseball and try to be the best player you can be, trying to get better every day. But a lot of that can be exhausting over the course of a long season. The good clubhouses we’ve been in, it’s been a good mix of baseball-oriented getting better every day along with being ourselves and bringing in some fun.”
Keeping the fun around will ultimately depend on whether the Blue Jays start playing better and Bichette is, in some ways, a linchpin, especially if he’s able to take defensively at shortstop.
He’s worked relentlessly to improve his defence over the past two years, making himself at least an average thrower while extending his range. His athleticism offers the potential for more, and he flashed that in the sixth, picking Bubba Starling’s grounder, sashaying over the second for the lead out and then delivering a laser to first for the twin-kill.
“If you’re going to be a championship team in the big-leagues, your shortstop has got to for sure pick it, and then hit,” said manager Charlie Montoyo. “When it comes to a second baseman, I’m OK if he’s hit first and then defence. But your shortstop has to pick it. The best teams in baseball, their shortstop is one of their best players. Going from team to team, the Dodgers, Boston, Yankees, they’re good shortstops and they hit. They do both. If we want to get there, he needs to do both.”
The next two months should help the Blue Jays determine if he’s more the former than the latter. Veteran Freddy Galvis may very well be traded over the next couple of days – he’d make some sense for the New York Mets and their porous infield defence – but if not he’s already been told by Montoyo that he’ll be moving around the infield to accommodate Bichette, who’ll get the bulk of the work at shortstop.
Biggio started at second base and the Blue Jays want to get him plenty of work there, too, to see if he can stick at the keystone. It’s possible he ends up a super-utility player bouncing from position to position on a daily basis, while Guerrero will need to make strides over the winter to stick at third long-term.
How they ultimately fit the puzzle defensively is one of many questions that remain unresolved for the Blue Jays – don’t worry, we’ll be talking plenty about the rotation in the days and weeks to come. But one way or another they’re big parts of it, and it’s theirs to make their own.
“There are different ways to be a good teammate,” said Bichette. “For me, what I want out of my teammates is guys to play hard every day, guys to come to the field and try to get better every day, and to be available. To be someone that your teammates feel is approachable if you need advice or anything like that, you’re there for them. That’s what I want out of my teammates, so that’s what I try to bring to the field every day and into the clubhouse.”
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