It was the summer of 2018 when the “We Want Vladdy” signs first starting appearing in the Rogers Centre fans, an early welcome to the then teenager expected to be the future of the franchise.
Now just short of seven years, six seasons and 160 big league home runs later, Vlad Guerrero Jr. seems destined to wave goodbye.
While Guerrero won’t technically reach free agency until November, he made it clear to Jays management that he would not discuss a contract extension beyond Tuesday’s opening day of full squad spring training workouts at the team’s Dunedin, Fla. base.
Guerrero told reporters in Dunedin that money was at the root of the inability to reach an agreement, adding that it’s part of the business.
As for the deadline that he set, Guerrero told reporters that he did it primarily because he didn’t want to be a distraction to his teammates as spring training and the season unfolds.
Whatever last-ditch efforts to get a deal done fell short and Guerrero will begin preparing for what could be his final 162 games for the organization that signed him as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic.
Barring a change of heart — plus a huge influx of Rogers Communications cash and Guerrero’s willingness to listen to future offers — the development threatens to turn the long-term future of the team into turmoil.
And it certainly further undermines the work of team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins. The duo’s seeming indifference to keeping Guerrero around has been a dominant story since the team took him to arbitration (and lost) a little more than a year ago.
Should Guerrero reach free agency and walk, he figures to have a long list of suitors, especially if he has anywhere near the 30-home run, 199-hit season he put up in 2024.
Guerrero said his representatives met with the front office over the past couple of days but that the talks “never got to the point” where he wanted to do a deal. The 25-year-old said that Juan Soto’s mega US$765-million deal with the New York Mets had nothing to do with his decision and that he had his own valuation of his worth. He added his love for playing in Toronto and that he always felt that he would be a Blue Jay for life.
More to come …