Why it's time for the Blue Jays to finally cut ties with struggling Biggio

The Toronto Blue Jays might not be done with their hopes for the season just yet.

Sitting at a record of 28-26 and fifth place in the American League East, Toronto is in need of some good vibes to turn a promising season gone wrong around.

But despite the midseason struggles, Toronto’s still projected to win 87 games this season per FanGraphs, and hey, who knows, might even make 2023 a season to remember.

Fingers can be pointed all over for why the Jays aren’t looking like the dominant team they were expected to be this season by fans and pundits alike.

Toronto has no shortage of struggling stars: Alek Manoah, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Alejandro Kirk all haven’t really looked like themselves for much of this season.

There have been criticisms of the front office and of manager John Schneider and his staff, with a few questionable in-game calls often blowing up in Toronto’s collective faces.

And then there’s Cavan Biggio, now in his fifth season hanging around Toronto’s roster, who’s been statistically the most costly player to the roster despite not being an everyday piece of the lineup.

His value to the team supposedly comes from his ability to play any given position as a utility player, slotting in this year as a first, second, and third baseman, a right fielder, and a designated hitter.

There’s just one problem: he hasn’t been particularly good at, well, anything on the offensive end this season.

About one-third of the way through the season, he’s just not providing much use to the Blue Jays, and it seems like it’s time for Toronto to finally move on from the once-promising talent.

What’s driving Biggio’s struggles?

Biggio’s slash line has been straight-up ugly this season, with a .161 batting average, .222 on-base percentage, and a .333 slugging rate, which ranks 381st, 378th, and 311th out of 398 batters this season with at least 50 plate appearances.

His Wins Above Replacement mark of -0.4 is the lowest on the team in his 32 contests.

Biggio’s supposed strengths on the basepaths have resulted in just a single stolen base through the team’s first 53 games.

In total, Biggio has picked up just four walks and 12 hits this season. For comparison’s sake, Bo Bichette has picked up 13 hits over Toronto’s last week of action in just six games.

Once a strength of Biggio’s, his walk rate of 4.9% suggests that pitchers aren’t exactly fazed by pitching directly to him, and it’s been clear for quite some time that he doesn’t exactly strike fear into his opposition.

What options do the Blue Jays have with Biggio?

A 2016 draft pick of the Blue Jays, there was once a point in time where Biggio was heralded as a possible third star alongside Guerrero and Bichette, with all three of them having former major leaguers as fathers.

But as we’ve come to learn in many other industries, nepotism doesn’t always breed the best talent, and Biggio’s been finding out the cruel truth that his pedigree and high expectations alone might not be enough to save his struggling baseball career.

Biggio is on a one-year contract worth $2.8 million, meaning this could be his last in Toronto should the team decide not to select his contract in the coming offseason.

But for the near future, it seems like Toronto should be nearing a breaking point while his struggling season continues.

He has three minor league options remaining, meaning the team could send him to Triple-A Buffalo should they so choose, but it might be time to explore the — likely minuscule — trade market for his services.

The truth is, it doesn’t really matter what the Jays decide to do with Biggio, just that they choose to make a conscious effort to remove him from the major league roster.

Sometimes things just don’t come together in pro sports and that’s alright.

If Toronto’s looking to remain a serious contender this season, finding a way to move on from Biggio seems like an obvious choice.

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