This rumor started with a couple podcast hosts tweeting about a call the Chicago Cubs made to the Toronto Blue Jays to kick the tires on a potential trade for shortstop Bo Bichette. It wasn't taken all too seriously at first, but now MLB reporter Jon Morosi has acknowledged the rumor and he's also added a Shohei Ohtani twist.
A quick recap of this Bichette to Cubs trade rumor.
Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast co-host, Kevin Fiddler, has been hearing that the Cubs are interested in trading for Bichette, with the intent of moving the two-time All-Star shortstop over to third base.
This seemingly came out of left field, but the rumor is gaining steam, as the next day there were more rumblings.
And here's where Morosi comes in. A year ago, he first linked the Cubs to Bichette, as the team was in search of a shortstop in free agency and Morosi believed Bichette could have been an option for them as well through the trade market.
Via Audacy.
Morosi also had an outside-the-box idea on how Chicago could pivot.
He believes the Cubs could eventually pursue Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette on the trade market. Bichette is under team control through 2025.
“Nobody has told me, ‘Hey, Bo Bichette is available,’ but like a lot of things in this industry, if you are getting closer to free agency and there’s no word of there being a (contract) extension in place, people start to ask, people start to wonder,” Morosi said. “I don’t think the Jays are there yet, but if both of those shortstops, Correa and Swanson, don’t go to the Cubs and the Cubs are very, very motivated to put a ton of their prospect value into a deal … I just believe there are some scenarios – not now – but later in the offseason in which the Jays would at least entertain the possibility of a Bo Bichette trade.”
So far this offseason, there have only been minor discussions about Bichette being a possible trade candidate, brought up by MLB.com writer Juan Toribio when talking about the Los Angeles Dodgers keeping an eye on the Blue Jays' shortstop.
On Wednesday morning, Morosi didn't throw any cold water on the Bichette trade rumors and instead intensified the speculation. The MLB insider wondered out loud, "how would a Bichette-to-Cubs trade impact the way Ohtani views both of these potential suitors?"
Ohtani has spent the past six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels and each year he saw his team finish below .500, with their best record topping out at 80-82 during his rookie 2018 season.
During the 2023 All-Star weekend in Seattle, Ohtani talked about the importance of playing on winner.
We know that the Cubs are going to make an aggressive push to sign Ohtani this season. Imagine if the Cubs do pull off a trade for Bichette? That's a huge commitment to win and would certainly be appealing to the two-way star.
It's a great thought. This would be amazing. Yet, I still think there's little chance that the Blue Jays trade Bichette this offseason. Toronto is trying to compete right now, too, and I just don't see how they maintain that course of action while at the same time trading away one of their star players.
You can fathom that the Cubs have called the Blue Jays, but even if there was little interest from Toronto you can't knock Jed Hoyer and the front office for being creative trying to make a big upgrade in their infield.
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