April 26: The Blue Jays have made Guerrero’s promotion official. His contract has been formally selected from Triple-A Buffalo, per a team announcement. Infielder Richard Urena was optioned to Triple-A to open a spot on the active roster.
April 24: It’s celebration time in Toronto. Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo announced to reporters following today’s game that the organization will promote uber-prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to the Major Leagues on Friday (Twitter link via Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet). He’ll make his Major League debut in Friday’ series opener against the visiting Athletics.
The promotion for Guerrero comes after nearly a year of anticipation. Outcry for the organization to promote the vaunted young slugger began last year when he was utterly laying waste to Double-A pitching as a 19-year-old. Guerrero logged a laughable .402/.449/.671 slash in 266 plate appearances at the Double-A level before moving up to Triple-A where he posted a similarly ridiculous .336/.414/.564 slash. That otherworldly performance, at such a young age, unsurprisingly made Guerrero the No. 1 overall prospect on the rankings of Baseball America, MLBPipeline.com, Fangraphs and Baseball Prospectus.
Toronto, however, has been determined to push back Guerrero’s free agency as far as is reasonably possible. For Guerrero, that meant being passed over for a September call-up despite a dominant season in the upper minors, and it surely would have meant he’d open the season at Triple-A even were it not for an oblique injury that serendipitously gave the Jays an actual reason to keep him off the Opening Day roster.
Along the way, Jays leadership made the standard-issue vague claims about how Guerrero needed to work on his defense, his baserunning and learning to be the “best possible teammate” he could be while dodging persistent questions about manipulating Guerrero’s service time. It wasn’t even two months ago that general manager Ross Atkins made the questionable claim that he simply did “not see him as a Major League player” yet. (Guerrero, it seems, learned a lot in the 11 minor league contests he played this year.)
To be clear, the Blue Jays aren’t doing anything nefarious or against the rules; they’re exploiting a system that encourages them to make just this type of business-driven move in a year they’re not expecting to compete. The Cubs took this route with Kris Bryant, the Braves did so with Ronald Acuna Jr., and numerous other young stars have seen their arrival in the big leagues pushed back for similar reasons. It’s not a universal tactic, as evidenced by Eloy Jimenez, Pete Alonso and Fernando Tatis Jr., but it’s certainly a common one. Such service time machinations will continue to be a storyline so long as the current service time/arbitration system remains in place, though it’s possible that the league and the MLBPA will explore alterations as they work toward a new collective bargaining agreement beginning prior to the 2022 season.
Service time considerations aside, the promotion of Guerrero marks the beginning of a new era in Toronto. The majority of the core that brought the Jays to the ALCS in both 2015 and 2016 has since departed. Edwin Encarnacion, Jose Bautista, Josh Donaldson, David Price, Kevin Pillar, R.A. Dickey, Mark Buehrle, Marco Estrada and J.A. Happ have all landed elsewhere, and it’s likely that the Jays will look into moving each of Justin Smoak, Marcus Stroman and Aaron Sanchez this summer.
However, Guerrero is a potential cornerstone piece for the organization — one who’ll eventually be followed by the likes of Bo Bichette, Nate Pearson, Cavan Biggio and others as Toronto looks to lay a new foundation in the ever-competitive AL East. Other potential pieces of that puzzle have already begun to get a taste of the Majors, with Rowdy Tellez, Danny Jansen and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. all receiving some experience at the game’s highest level.
The position played by Guerrero in the long term is far from set in stone. While the claim that Guerrero’s need for defensive improvement was the reason for keeping him in the minors was never legitimate, questions about his glovework are valid. Scouting reports have long pegged him as a sub-par option at third base, and it’s possible he’ll have to slide across the diamond to first base or even settle in as a primary designated hitter at some point in his early or mid 20s. The Jays surely hope that his defense can improve with some help from the big league coaching staff and continued reps in the Majors, but the 6’2″, 250-pound Guerrero may simply not be a long-term option at his natural position. Regardless of his defensive upside (or lack thereof), though, Guerrero’s prodigious bat should quickly establish him as one of the game’s brightest young stars.
Given the timing of his promotion, Guerrero will be under control for the Blue Jays through at least the 2025 season, although it’s possible that the Jays will explore the same type of early-career extension the White Sox were able to achieve with Jimenez (if they haven’t already begun to do so). Guerrero will be a slam-dunk Super Two player, assuming he’s not optioned back to the minors at any point, as he’ll finish out the 2019 campaign with 158 days of service.
rice
That’ll help the Jays fight for 3rd place in the division
tycobb016
So 40 pounds overweight maybe had something to do with it.
Taejonguy
worked for Cecil Fielder
maxim1
It’s not the 90s anymore. Look what happened to Prince. An amazing career cut short because of neck surgery. Slugging injuries, & repetitive motion strain added up. I’m sure his bulk didn’t help.
nowheredan
He’s nowhere near as heavy as Prince Fielder was, even at the beginning of Prince’s career.
dimitrios in la
He is indeed overweight and it should be a real concern. More stress on body and of course fielding will be negatively impacted. Can get away with it young but not long-term.
dimitrios in la
That said, I look forward to watching him.
todd76
Trade him now while his value is the highest.
nowheredan
Yeah. Maybe for a prospect with high upside. *sigh*
chitown311
Vlad JR and Eloy Jimenez are going to be fun to watch for the next 10+ years.
SanDiegoTom
And Tatis Jr.
chitown311
Him too
Pickle_Britches
And Joey Bart:)
twinsfan368
And Royce Lewis
DarkSide830
and Sixto…oh wait, he’s not one of ours amymore
PhilliesFan012
And Ronald Acuna
thekid9
Thank you Johnny Superscout
ullnvrknw
And Juan Soto
AngelDiceClay
He will be playing along side Trout and Adell in 6 years
dimitrios in la
Haven’t seen him play but can’t say I enjoy watching overweight baseball players (though Prince brought his own great charisma, and I’m sure Babe Ruth was worth the price of admission).
Slipknot37
Ive waited 2 years for this post. Thatll be exciting
gray
What does Corey Taylor think about this?
Slipknot37
That is the question
braves2
they already signed those 2 to long term deals? wow amazing
dimitrios in la
Then I’m happy for you.
athleticsnchill
Yay, because our starting pitchers aren’t having enough trouble without having to face a potentially generational hitter.
SmittyFubar
He’s facing Fiers today. What better way to start your mlb career than facing a guy that gives up all the runs?
scarfish
High fives to everyone who stashed him on their keeper teams a couple seasons ago.
2id
I traded Alex Reyes straight up for Vlad two seasons ago. Not even joking when I say I get about 3 absurd trade offers a week for him.
OilCanLloyd
He’ll lengthen the lineup . Get us a more wins. He’ll change the mindset and landscape in the AL east all by himself. A true difference maker. No doubt about it.
BJ Ozymandias
From your mouth to Gods ears
OilCanLloyd
Thanos is coming and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.
maxim1
He will sell tickets & merchandise. That is the ONLY reason they are bringing him up now.
Nobody gives a flying fart about the Jays & their failure of a rebuild team this season. ROGERS doesn’t even care enough to broadcast the games. Seems to me, if you want to get the fan base to love your new players & embrace the team, they need to see the games first. But what’s the point when they are SO BAD? It’s the Bad News Bears playing in the MLB.
What? We won a few? Oh…we better trade away our longest tenured player BEST outfielder & the most loved player on the team. Overstepped on Pillar trade. Too early.
Vladimir will hit bombs. No question. People will come, buy tickets, beer, hot dogs & jerseys absolutely.
But he is still that overweight, defensively underdeveloped kid. If he isn’t dealt with properly he could end up another Sandoval or worse- Fielder a great slugger who lost his career young because of injuries from slugging.
MLB is expecting him to be their next “face of baseball”. That won’t work if he can’t field a ball or is down with injuries because he’s not in peak shape.
Taejonguy
you obviously know little… Pillar was not a very good player and is replaceable. even Grichuk will be better…
its_happening
In such short time Grichuk has already proven he is not up for the CF job defensively.
maxim1
If you think Pillar didn’t perform in the field, you know nothing. Constantly making the highlight reels with amazing catches & putting his body on the line to back up his pitcher.
He will be another player that benefits from the trade & becomes an All Star now that he is away from Toronto. Better fan support there, not as many bandwagon idiots & armchair coaches.
baseballsavvy
Willing to put money on that Pillar all-star prediction?
sovtechno
The thing is, Pillar is a very good player. Has been since he became full time. The issue is that he has regressed every single season since his debut. Still, He has played around 4.75 seasons worth of baseball and accumulated nearly 15 WAR during that time. I don’t get where the “He isn’t a good player” narrative originated from – he is good. Perhaps a bit too streaky though.
sacball
he looks like he can eat the whole AL east all by himself too..
jimmertee
I’ll be watching for sure.
iverbure
Did you see Stroman dominate? You know the guy you tried to run outta town for having a bad attitude?
jimmertee
It’s a long season.
Matt_Angel_Bronco_Laker
Can’t wait to watch this young man!
its_happening
Good stuff. Looking forward to seeing him live this weekend.
LarsLap
Seems like they are rushing him. With this year already a lost cause for the Jays, they could hold him down til May 2020 and get an extra year of control…. he says sarcastically
Paul Miller
*crickets
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Dude offered me Vlad Jr. for Julio Terehan in fantasy baseball. Not sure why, but…I’m grateful.
driftcat28 2
That’s disrespectful lol I hate offers like that
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Just in case I was not clear, he wanted my Teheran for his Vlad Jr. I got Vlad.
Being offered a young (potential) superstar for a roulette wheel late round SP is the kind of offer I like.
Actually, it was so one sided my only delay in accepting was deciding whether it was OK to accept a trade that you would veto, but just in case he offered him to other people, I accepted.
driftcat28 2
Ohhhh then good for you! Love trades like that haha
Ted
If it’s not a keeper league that’s not the worst trade ever I guess. Vlads production in 2019 is a question mark; even Trout didn’t hit right away in the bigs. Plus he was a minor leaguer and got hurt I’m spring training.
In a keeper league it’s absurd and ought to be overturned.
Breezy
Quick! Put in your fantasy waiver wire claims!
James Ryu
“not see him as a Major League player” comment was harsh. He’d outhit everyone in current Blue Jays lineup. Atkins should have left it at defense comment.
Strike Four
They should bring up Cavan Biggio too, he’s absolutely raking even harder than VGJ and is 24. Can’t wait til those two and Bichette are in the INF.
BJ Ozymandias
He’ll be up sooner rather than later…maybe a month ?
Strike Four
Ah yes, so Brett Anderson will be the guy who gives up his first bomb lol
athleticsnchill
Nope, that would be Mike Fiers.
Strike Four
Ah, I saw a graphic somewhere that went Anderson-Fiers-Bassit but MLB.com is showing the first two reversed.
Lefty Grove’s right hand
I believe Anderson got hurt last start.
Strike Four
He’s starting Saturday, just twisted his ankle and they took him as a precaution.
Solar Flare
Second year in a row Brandon Drury got supplanted by a rookie at third base in the AL East (Miguel Andujar last year and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this year).
its_happening
Maybe Drury should play better?
Koamalu
Jr is both phat and fat. He will be a DH within a handful of years and I don’t think he starts 2020 at 3B.
Strike Four
Great then we get Papi2
maxim1
Or…Panda2.0
Strike Four
lmao not even close – VGJ is also really young, I myself lost 50 pounds between 20 and 24, and he’s a pro athlete, I wouldnt pay any attention to his puppy fat.
Imagine actually thinking a 19 year olds body is going to only get worse….you “worst case scenario 24-7” types need to get out of the house more, its not always going to be so bad!!!
pjmcnu
Let’s be clear: absent the injury, the Jays absolutely WERE doing something nefarious & likely contrary to the CBA. Otherwise, the rationale you gave, and clearly don’t believe, wouldn’t be necessary. They, and all the other orgs you mention – because you’re right, service time manipulation has become blatant & commonplace – would simply say “we’re keeping him down to get that 7th year.” Why don’t they? Because they know they’d be grieved & lose. The service time rules are there for measurement. They concept is, you bring a guy up when he’s ready or you need him, then we look to the rules to see when he gets arb & FA. It’s not meant for manipulation. Hence, the obfuscation. They simply get away with it, as long as they don’t admit it. But not getting busted & not being nefarious or actually following the rules are 2 very different things.
Starvenger
Vlad isn’t even a part of MLBPA until he’s on the 40 man. So I don’t think it legally violates the CBA at all.
It’s dodgy as hell. But it’s legal. One would hope that the MLBPA does something about it, but that’s putting a lot of faith in Tony Clark to get it right.
maxorange33
That’s actually 3 very different things, not getting busted (for what?), not being evil or nefarious (huh?), and actually following the rules (they did) makes 3.
petrie000
Actually the CBA gives the team full control over promotions and demotions, and stipulates how long it takes to get a full ‘year’ of service time.
So what the Jay’s did was grossly unfair and manipulative… But not nefarious, since it’s all well within the rules as written
The reason you get all the bull from the teams about it is mostly because it would be horrible PR to admit you care more about 7 seasons from now that this season.
So yeah, it’s all ‘legal’, the system’s just broken.
lowtalker1
It would have been, if he didn’t injury himself.
Unlike the jays, the padres could have easily defended an idea to send tatis to triple a but they didn’t.
driftcat28 2
This will help Toronto forget about losing to the Bruins last night
maxim1
Forget Who?
TrueOutcomeFan
Thanks, Christ.
jaysrule1399
Thank you AA for signing this incredible kid.
heater
“Exploiting” Haha. Funny how it’s so atrocious that teams play by the rules. Smh.
petrie000
Something can be ‘legal’ and incredibly exploitative at the same time.
spinach
This article about a player being promoted doesn’t say what his stats are this year.
sufferforsnakes
Still waiting for the Tribe to promote Oscar Mercado……and demote Jake Bauers.
smallg
AAA- 360/429/640 ops 1.069. 3 walks 2 struck outs in 28pa.
Thomas Walker
Who?
queensburykid
Blue Jays fans deserved something happy. The team owners have them on semi-build the mode for too long. They.never seemed committed to true a rebuild mode, so their fans have endured so-so teams for years. I always they seem to me like a person on a toilet seat without an any idea what to do.
mike156
Vlad’s hair needed time to grow out a little before joining the bigs, he had to take correspondence courses on learning to room with a big leaguer, then there was a two week session where he was taught Major League baseball rules…..
bbatardo
Feels like he will homer in his 1st AB cementing his place in the majors.
hiflew
I can just imagine how many hearts will break if Vladdy ends up being a bust. Or even just a regular big league player. In some people’s minds, if he doesn’t end up as a first ballot Hall of Famer, he will be a disappointment. WAY too much hype. He cannot possibly exceed expectations because they are already astronomical. I understand being excited, but setting expectations that high only set up disappointments. And more importantly, it’s puts way too much pressure on a 19 year old kid trying to make it as a player. He already has enough pressure just trying to live up to his Hall of Fame dad.
OilCanLloyd
Sound like your just setting yourself up so you won’t be disappointed. He is a generational hitter, raised on baseball, born in Canada. It couldn’t be more perfect. By the end of the year he will have the team and the country on his shoulders. And he’ll make it look easy.
skip tracey
“It couldn’t be more perfect”. Careful, don’t jinx the kid.
hiflew
Okay, good luck with that.
its_happening
Vlad is 20 years old. Same age as Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Trout and many others. Guys have handled themselves adequately at 20. He’s swung the bat more than well enough to be ready for prime time.
hiflew
And how many 20 year olds WEREN’T Mantle, Mays, Aaron, Trout, and many others? How about Wilson Betemit? He was hyped nearly as much as Vladdy Jr. 20 years ago and debuted at 20. How about Karim Garcia? He debuted at 19. Wily Mo Pena? Corey Patterson? Travis Snider? Dilson Herrera? I could go on, but I think the point is made. There are more players that debuted that young that were just plain busts.
There were others like Edwin Jackson, Matt Cain, Cameron Maybin, Jurickson Profar, Jon Garland, BJ Upton, and many others that also debuted that young and became just regular big league players. None of them qualify as busts, but none as all that special either.
The point is that just because he is hyped and young is meaningless. He could end up as Griffey Jr., but he is far more likely to end as just another player.
its_happening
None of them put up the offensive numbers Vlad put up in the minors. You can go on for days and not a single player you mentioned can be compared to Vlad Guerrero Jr.
I’m not here to say he’s going to Cooperstown. In fact I think his weight will be the one thing that holds him back. However, don’t come up with all these lame examples of inferior players who never produced the way Guerrero has. It’s a cheap comparison full of holes and inaccuracies.
maxim1
Sounds like you are pissed your team didn’t sign him.
This kid was bred for baseball, born with a bat in one hand & ball in the other, raised on the Expos field Dominican training parks, playing ball as soon as he could walk.
He has known who his Dad is & what he did all his life. He was on a big league field in front of 1000s at 6. He’s been filling his Dad’s shoes Eve since.
hiflew
Well since my team is the Rockies and I am pretty happy having our current third baseman over an unproven rookie, no I am not pissed.
lowtalker1
Well
Pete Rose jr was an amazing minor league player.
Yep it is
Too bad he is stuck in a loser organization who will never spend a dime to win.
chalk73
I’m not a Jays fan but it seems like this “loser organization” does a pretty good job drafting players.
maxim1
So many small, butthurt, jealous people out there. Pissed because their team’s scouts didn’t have the foresight to nab this phenom. Their team didn’t SPEND THE MONEY TO SIGN HIM @ 16 for $3.9 mill & develop him over the past 4 years.
SUCK IT UP!
He has been playing ball since he could walk, in the Dominican & Canada. He was born to do this.
I just pray his family protects him from the baseball vultures.
Starvenger
Jays took on the large contracts of Reyes, Beuhrle and Tulo. They overpaid for Dickey. They gave Martin a large backloaded contract. They reached the ALCS in 2 straight years. Then ate that money to start a rebuild.
Oh, and they spent as much international pool money as they could on this Vlad kid.
So yeah, they never spent a dime to try and win. QED.
its_happening
Rogers may be the richest ownership in baseball. If not, darn close.
Jays payrolls:
2012 – $97-mil (18th)
2013 – $131-mil (9th)
2014 – $141-mil (9th)
2015 – $138-mil (10th) *reached postseason
2016 – $152-mil (9th) *reached postseason
2017 – $187-mil (6th)
2018 – $150-mil (11th)
Not once in the top 5. Not once anywhere close to the top teams with owners carrying less wealth. 2017 jump was perhaps some of the dumbest signings in recent memory with two DH’s and an aging, fading superstar needing to DH. When they needed the knockout punch signing they never attempted to get it, both regimes.
maxim1
Good rant. What’s your point?
No Jays fan will hide their contempt & frustration for Roger’s constant lack of commitment to this team.
If you are looking for a fight, you won’t get it.
If you think you are being clever or insightful, try again. We’ve been wailing on Roger’s management for decades; the 80s were particularly bleak.
Starvenger
I don’t disagree with this. I appreciate it, actually.
But one cannot make a blanket statement about the ownership not spending a dime to win. The spending was done. Maybe it wasn’t enough, or done well (both of which you alluded to), but it was done. We can’t pretend that it wasn’t.
Starvenger
The point, honestly, is that we can’t pretend that the owners didn’t spend money to improve the team. did they spend enough, or did they spend wisely? TrimReaper laid all that out for us.
And no, I’m not looking for a fight. But sometimes a 1 sentence lukewarm take comment is dumb enough that it needs to be called. I’m as guilty of that (dumb comments) as anyone, to be honest.
I’ve had the fortune of not having to deal with Rogers until the late 90s, for internet (Cogeco and Bell for everything else), so I can’t speak of how good/bad they were in the 80s.
its_happening
I hear you Starvenger. I get crushed by someone nearly every day on this site. It’s cool. It’s always interesting to see different perspectives from other passionate baseball fans, especially the Blue Jays.
Rogers ownership is a give and take; financial stability became an issue with prior owners, yet Rogers took what was once a class organization in scouting and development into a direction where homegrown talent has been lacking for many years. As much as we can target GMs and Presidents, Rogers ultimately has the power to control and decide who runs things from the top.
iverbure
Spending doesn’t equal winning. In fact there’s evidence to suggest that increasing your payroll by more than 30% in a year fails more than it succeeds.
Had the jays spent what the simpletons wanted they would have had Jose Bautistas corpse filling up 30% of the payroll this year and had Edwin making another 25 mil, being a DH proving minmum war.
its_happening
We established that point nearly two days before you chimed in. Thanks for coming goutseyes. Captain Positive as usual….
charlesk
Agreed. Shapkins will trade Smoak, his only protection in the lineup, and dump the core of the pitching staff in Stroman, Sanchez and Giles for nothing as well… Vlad will start his MLB career on just an awful team that is in continual rebuilding mode with mostly players that AA signed or drafted (Vlad, Bichette, Biggio, Jansen, etc)…
Catch tha Taste
Thank god this charade is over. We’re excited to see this kid play – Signed: every Jays and MLB fan
Vedder80
His father made over $125 million in his career. This kid is not going to be signing a team friendly extension in order to gain financial security by giving up future earnings. He already has financial security.
maxim1
He doesn’t play for money..well. Everyone wants the biggest contract ever. Trout plays for the “love of the game too”
The Jays signed him @ 16 for $3.9 mill & paid hefty taxes for it.
Vlad was born with a bat in one hand & a ball in the other. He’s been on the field his entire life.
MLB has plans for this kid.
terrymesmer
I bought my Friday tickets a week ago. I didn’t think the Vladdy Era of Total Goodness would start until May or June — I just got reaaaaaaaaaal lucky. But now my kid will be able to brag forever.
chiffie
By the time the Blue jays become relevant in the AL east Vlad might be retired. Charlie Montoya really, miss managed the pen and are stuck with Luciano and they send Guerra to Buffalo .Put Luciano on IL and bring back Guerra. And maybe think about a real starter.
PickleRiccck
Ah great day for baseball!!!
Dadbodfromseattle
Biggio, bichette, vladdy…..we sure this is 2019
NYMETSHEA
Let’s be honest. MLB and its writers are enamored about the Cuban players, but there has been many flame out in recent history in a grab to get the next top talent from the island nation. Production from Cuban league does not equate to success in MLB.
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. seems to be another example of teams being enamored with Cuban players. His initial success (2018) will be short lived and I want to see him avoid a sophomore slump when teams make adjustments to hitters. Gurriel Jr does not seem to be able to draw sufficient amount of walks in his history, and his walks to strike out ratio is horrendous. In MLB, power alone does not seem to equate to high value. Unless his BAbip remains well above average, I do not see him carrying sufficient production on offense and excellent defense to be worthy of starting role.
CONTEXT :: MINORS
2017 – A+ / AA level – 12 BB / 43 SO
2018 – AA / AAA level – 7 BB / 42 SO
2019 – AAA level – 0 BB / 3 SO (ONLY 13 AB’s)
CONTEXT :: MAJORS
2018 – 9 BB / 59 SO
2019 – 3 BB / 12 SO
Iron Mike
what does any of this have to do with Guerrero jr? He’s dominican.
petrie000
Why let facts get in the way of a good rant?
OilCanLloyd
Take a chance or crap your pants! I shudder to think where Vlad would be not for a GM taking a chance.
Lance
it’s a smart BUSINESS decision. Padres may deeply regret bringing up Tatis at the start of the season.
davidcoonce74
Not really. The Padres window is probably the next five years, and Tatis will be under contract for all that time. Tatis is obviously ready for the majors (as is Vlad Jr.), evidenced by his 299/361/568 in the majors at age 21. The Padres probably fostered some goodwill by not manipulating the service time; see what Kris Bryant has done with the Cubs after they held him down to manipulate service time after Bryant hit ten homers in Spring Training that year.
A team should just put their best players on the field; it’s a broken system. But if I was a fan of a team, even a team that isn’t going to win, I’d much rather watch Tatis or Vlad Jr. playing than whatever dreck the Padres and Blue Jays would be playing instead. I mean, imagine if you plunked down your 50 bucks or whatever to watch the Blue Jays play this season, and you had to sit through Brandon Drury at 3rd base – he’s batting 179/225/323. I’d rather watch the good exciting young player.
Grizalt
“Goodwill” doesn’t win championships. And there is no reason to believe that Kris Bryant would have signed an extension even without the service time manipulation. I can just as easily point to Buster Posey and Ronald Acuña and say that service time manipulation won’t hurt your chances of extending a player.
Oh and you wouldn’t have to watch “whatever dreck” the Padres would be playing instead of Tatis. He’d be up by now.
davidcoonce74
But for the first two weeks I’d be watching who? Jose Pirela? Do you get excited by watching Pirela play?
iverbure
This notion that playing a guy like tatis opening day is frosting goodwill is the dumbest argument ever. I remember the brewers gave Prince Fielder more money I’m arb one year than they had two. Fielder of course bolted once he reached free agency.
petrie000
It’s a safe decision
The Padres made a lot more money with Tatis on the roster from day 1 simply by the spike in interest in the team. They’re also maximizing the investment they made in Machado and raised their profile among future free agents.
So the business aspect of it is not nearly as cut and dry and people make it out to be. Yes, they’ll have to pay more to Tatis in the future, but there are other benefits offsetting that.
Grizalt
Ain’t nothing safe about losing Tatis after 2024. No one is worried about having to pay him more at that point. They are worried about losing him entirely.
jbigz12
I’m fairly certain Preller felt his seat getting hot. And he needed to see his team do relatively well this year. I still think that’s why you saw paddack and Tatis from day 1. As far as raising their profile with FA’s yeah I highly doubt that. The padres aren’t going to be making many big dollar splashes in FA either given the money they owe myers, Machado, and Hosmer. I don’t see how that would increase the likelihood of any FA wanting to come to San Diego considering any FA who signs would now have one less year with Tatis. That sounds like a pretty horrible argument to make.
They made their choice and the team is more exciting with them on it. So, for the short term it was a positive for the fans. Long term? I don’t see how you make a good argument for that.
petrie000
If the Padres are serious about keeping him, paying him a year earlier isn’t exactly a hardship.
If they don’t intend to pay him when he hits free agency, it’s also not that much of a hardship to get maximum value out of him immediately, they’ve invested a lot of money in a couple of free agents who aren’t likely to be key players 7 seasons from now.
Putting the extra year ahead of all other concerns is a bit short sighted.
Grizalt
@jbigz12 We seem to mostly agree on this issue but three things I feel the need to point out.
1. Preller was extended through 2022. His seat is ice cold.
2. As far as the team being more exciting with Tatis and Paddack on it, if they had been held down for service time reasons they would have been called up by now and that excitement would already be happening.
3. Only premium free agent I maybe see them going after in the near future is a Cole, Wheeler or Bumgarner. They’re gonna have to offer them the most palatable contract to sign no matter what they did with Tatis.
Grizalt
@petrie000 Calling him up early and just assuming you will be able to extend him is WAY more short-sighted
petrie000
Who’s assuming anything? I just said if they intend to resign him.
Locking in an extra year of control is only that valuable if they don’t intend to try. Otherwise it’s the difference between paying him but money 1 season earlier.
Grizalt
Not at all. Just because they intend to try and lock him up doesn’t mean they will succeed. Holding him down for 15 days would have given them guaranteed control of his age 26 season, which is a pretty nice consolation prize in the event that they are unsuccessful at retaining him.
petrie000
That’s sort of exactly my point. The extra year is just a consolation prize. Where as starting him from day 1 this season improved their playoff chances right away.
Hence holding him down would have been the safe option, not necessarily the smart one.
RoXGB
Not nefarious, but exploitative…way to push it back on the teams in a deal both sides agreed to.
FullMontilla
So the Jays have today to get him signed up long term before he makes his debut tomorrow? Or will they just push that off to the weekend?
rodster
I see Oprah getting Vlad to do her weight watchers ads. He’s heavier now than he was in spring training. Nice image MLB.
petrie000
Something tells me MLB making an issue of his weight would cast a much worse image than just letting the guy play.
lowtalker1
Panda issues with Boston
Price fielder wearing is waist size on his back
Won’t go well
ElMagoN9ne
Vlad Guerrero Jr. Goes 2 for 4 with a 2B and a home run and 2Ks With 3 RBI Blue Jays win 5-4 on a walk off single by Lets say Billy McKinney.
carlote
more like 0-4 4Ks
BJ Ozymandias
Haters gotta hate dawg
iverbure
Swing and a miss on that prediction. You win the right to shut up and to stop making ridiculous predictions
DarkSide830
Urena could hit over .400 in the Majors at this point and still be demoted every three weeks.
its_happening
Yes. Atkins enjoys rewarding undiscipled players like Sogard rather than improved youngsters. One bad sign he isn’t up for building a winner.
Alex Snow
Undisciplined? Really? Care to explain how an undisciplined hitter has a .478 OBP? As Inigo Montoya said, “You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”
(Unless that wasn’t a typo and you actually meant “undiscipled”…which isn’t a word.)
Chebert
The writer should ease up on the slant against management/ownership groups and the delay of callups. Why wouldn’t a team want an extra year of control over a potential star player while playing meaningless games?
petrie000
Why ease up on a team charging full price while also clearly not caring about the quality of what they charge for?
Just because it makes sense for them doesn’t mean it’s good for the fans, players or the sport in general.
iverbure
Any fan complaining about it isn’t intelligent enough to even have a opinon worth reading. Only simpletons would have wanted their favourite team to put themselves at a competitive disadvantage
carlote
SHOW TIME!!!
its_happening
Urena being demoted is an awful message to send to a young guy performing. Sogard cost Shoemaker his season and couldn’t score from second base on a gap shot off the fence. He has displayed stupidity. He has no place on this roster. Cut him.
chicagofan1978
MLB has officially announced today and every day from now on will be known as Vlad jr day. Jeez can anyone be more overhyped. I hope he is a great player but come on already. Let the kid ply first
charlesk
So funny watching Atkins try to talk up Vlad Jr. when really this was all AA. If only Shapiro didn’t have such a huge ego, we’d still have AA running all baseball operations, and this never ending rebuild would have never happened. At least Sportsnet acknowledged AA’s role in the signing.
BJ Ozymandias
Hear hear
jimmertee
Wow all this Vlad Jr love. He is going to be a great player, one day. He’ll probably end up at first base.
Hmmm, Hmm with all this hype, I wonder if Vlad Jr save me from my sins?
its_happening
He has a quick bat. I love how he cut down his swing with two strikes in separate at bats. It allowed him to hit that double down the line. Hopefully more players are influenced by that approach (Grichuk, Drury, Hernandez, everyone).
spitball
Fatty Guerrero jr, another third baseman who can’t control his weight! Can you say Kung Fu Panda!
Rugga
Nice to see a much better attitude from the entire jays team. Nice debut
chiffie
It is very obvious that this young man has a problem, hopefully he recognizes it before he becomes a disappointment. so far he is 2for8 . Regardless your fighting for third place. wait until July some of these guys will or should be traded.. Please don’t get to excited.
rodster
The Uber prospect has fallen flat face down, what a complete overhyped fraud.Hello Las Vegas Blue Jays.
DarkSide830
im so glad i got an email notifaction for this masterpiece.
rodster
Well turn off your notifications and check out the Vegas air fares.
DarkSide830
who said i was bothered by it?
rodster
Toronto fats continues to make base running mistakes and with a sizzling .167 BA, where is the wonder kid the Blue Jays were crowing about.