Vladimir Guerrero Jr. draws all the attention in the Toronto Blue Jays' universe right now, from his first batting practice sessions, that raucous cheer launched by a crowd when he picked up a foul ball, and his first hit, executed under the happy gaze of his Hall of Fame dad.
But there is so much other stuff going well for the Blue Jays right now, and really, the hard part is probably already over in their rebuilding process. Along the way, not everything has gone according to plan, and the fans have been frustrated by some of the front-office decisions that will make more sense as time goes along -- and yet the conditions needed for Toronto to ascend again in the AL East in the next two or three seasons seem to be improving.
Bo Bichette's rise to the big leagues has been delayed by a broken hand, suffered last week when he was hit by a pitch. But he probably won't be long for the majors once he comes back, probably sometime in May, and the same is true for Cavan Biggio, who has reached base in 47 percent of his plate appearances in Triple-A so far. Nate Pearson is the highest-rated Blue Jays pitching prospect, and he's off to an excellent start in high-A, allowing two runs in his first 19 innings over five starts in 2019. He'll turn 23 this summer, and it figures he'll be in the mix of starters sometime in 2020.
But for the Jays' front office, opportunity is developing at the big league level, in the early-season performances of right-handers Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez, who have a chance to become two of the most coveted pieces in the summer trade market.
Over the past two years, the Blue Jays' staff straddled between a full-blown teardown and attempting to compete with the big-market Red Sox and Yankees in the AL East. Rather than simply let fan favorite Jose Bautista walk away in 2017, he was re-signed for a pricey one-year contract, and the Jays also clung to third baseman Josh Donaldson, hoping he'd stay on the field and re-establish some trade value.
But Bautista struggled in 2017, turning off potential interest, and Donaldson appeared in only 36 games for Toronto in 2018 before the Blue Jays moved him to Cleveland, for light return. Any thought that the Jays might've had about marketing Stroman and Sanchez last summer went away because of injury and performance problems. The front office also drew a lot of scrutiny for the handling of Vlad Jr., keeping him in the minors last season despite the perception of some rival evaluators that he was ready to hit in the big leagues -- and hit well -- and this conversation carried over to this spring training.
Now Guerrero is here, and not eligible for free agency until after the 2025 season at the earliest, and Stroman and Sanchez are pitching exceptionally. Both right-handers will be eligible for free agency after this year and next, and while the Blue Jays could always explore the possibility of multiyear deals with one or both pitchers, some rival execs think it's more likely Toronto will look to move the duo to take advantage of their current trade value -- which should be high.
While other possible trade pieces like Madison Bumgarner have had sluggish starts, Stroman leads the AL in earned-run average, at 1.43, and in a year when pitchers are generally getting pounded for home runs, Stroman hasn't allowed any in 37 2/3 innings. The industry perception that Stroman handles adrenaline in big games well will probably also enhance interest from other teams.
Sanchez has a 2.32 ERA in six starts, albeit with 20 walks in his 31 innings; he's allowed just two homers.
In the summer of 2016, the Yankees traded Andrew Miller and Aroldis Chapman to contenders, and in return they got Gleyber Torres, outfielder Clint Frazier and pitcher Justus Sheffield (who turned out to be the key piece in a deal for James Paxton last fall). If the Blue Jays get comparable return for Stroman and Sanchez, picking the right guys, an already stacked farm system would get even better, and Toronto would continue to climb closer to relevance.
It may be that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be just part of the Jays' allure by the end of 2020 or 2021.