Blue Jays position players reported to camp this morning for the club’s first full-squad workout of the spring, and superstar first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. set a deadline of today for extension talks with the club ahead of his final season under club control before free agency. That deadline has come and gone, and Guerrero told reporters (including Keegan Matheson of MLB.com) this morning that the sides did not reach a deal. ESPN’s Jeff Passan adds that Guerrero does not intend to negotiate during the season and now expects to reach free agency, while Hazel Mae relays (Video Link) that Guerrero noted he “would not close the door” on signing if Toronto brass presented him with a “realistic” offer.
Guerrero, still just 25 until March 16, is one of the most accomplished young players in the league and is likely to enter free agency as the most sought-after player available. A four-time All-Star with a Gold Glove award at first base and two Silver Slugger awards under his belt, Guerrero is a .288/.363/.500 (137 wRC+) hitter for his career. That type of offensive talent will always be enticing to clubs in free agency, but what makes Guerrero stand out as a top-of-the-class hitter is his combination of youth and ceiling.
Few hitters in the game can accomplish what Guerrero has in his peak seasons; his 2021 campaign was second only to Shohei Ohtani in AL MVP voting as he hit .311/.401/.601 (166 wRC+). His 48 home runs were tied with Salvador Perez for the most in the majors that year, and his .401 on-base percentage led the American League while trailing only Juan Soto and Bryce Harper in the NL. Steps back offensively in 2022 and ’23 raised questions regarding whether that otherworldly performance might be a fluke, but Guerrero squashed those concerns by more or less repeating his 2021 heroics this past season. Guerrero slashed a sensational .323/.396/.544 (165 wRC+) in 159 games for the Jays this past year, hitting “just” 30 homers in the process but making up for that with a career-best 44 doubles and a 13.8% strikeout rate that was the lowest of his career. Just nine qualified MLB hitters struck out less often than Guerrero in 2024, and among that group only Jose Ramirez and his 39-homer campaign were able to top Guerrero’s .221 isolated slugging percentage.
Reaching free agency on the heels of his age-26 season should make Guerrero all the more attractive in free agency come November. Guerrero will hit the open market just one year older than Juan Soto was during his own free agency this past winter, and that young age was crucial for Soto in securing his record-shattering deal that figures to pay him $765MM over the next 15 years and could max out at more than $800MM. That massive payday came in spite of Soto being a limited defender in the outfield corners who does not provide substantial value on the basepaths. While Soto is arguably in a class all his own as a hitter, with his career 158 wRC+ nearly matching Guerrero’s peak seasons, his record payday is still great news for the Jays’ slugger as there’s arguably no better comparison for Soto in the league than Guerrero at his peak.
Given that, it’s easy to imagine the bidding for Guerrero’s services surpassing half of a billion dollars. That seems to be right around where Guerrero set the bar in extension talks with Toronto, as reports regarding his asking price have suggested he was looking for north of $450MM. As Passan notes, Guerrero answered with a simple “No” when asked if the Blue Jays had put forth an offer that was close to his price point, and given Guerrero said earlier this winter that Toronto’s offer to him prior to Soto’s deal with the Mets sat at $340MM it’s hard to argue with his assessment unless the club brought their offer significantly higher over the course of the offseason.
Given the gap between the Guerrero’s rumored demands and the offer he said the Blue Jays made, it’s hardly a shock that the sides did not work out a deal. That’s reflected in a poll of MLBTR readers last month, where just 19.49% of respondents believed Guerrero would sign long-term with the club before today’s self-imposed deadline. Even so, Guerrero made clear to reporters that he’d still like to be a Blue Jay for life even as he went on to note that Toronto will now have to compete with 29 other clubs for his services on the open market. On the other hand, he also noted (as relayed by Matheson) his desire to win a World Series championship with his next club. That desire to win could hurt the Blue Jays’ odds of keeping Guerrero, as they finished dead last in a crowded AL East division with a 74-88 record. They appear to be longshots for the postseason this year as well after the Yankees and Orioles augmented their already playoff-caliber clubs while the Red Sox put together a strong offseason that saw them add multiple star players in Garrett Crochet and Alex Bregman.
As for the front office’s perspective, club GM Ross Atkins spoke to reporters shortly after Guerrero did and expressed disappointment that a deal did not get done, as relayed by Matheson. Atkins went on to emphasize that the club “worked very hard” in their efforts to come together on a deal and added that the “motivation” on the organization’s part to keep their superstar in the fold is “still there.” Atkins refused to get into specifics regarding numbers and contract offers but described their offer to Guerrero as one that would’ve been record-setting for the Blue Jays and made Guerrero “one of the highest paid players” in baseball if signed (video link via Mae). Atkins also made clear that the club’s inability to get a deal done with Guerrero was not a matter of resources, though that’s hardly a surprise given their high-dollar bids for Ohtani and Soto the past two winters.
Going forward, the Blue Jays figure to continue trying to win during Guerrero’s final year of club control. They’ve long resisted the possibility of trade talks involving their star slugger and, after spending $166MM to add Yimi Garcia, Jeff Hoffman, Anthony Santander, and Max Scherzer in free agency this winter while adding another $96.5MM in trade by taking on the Andres Gimenez contract from the Guardians, it seems unlikely that they would change course now rather than push in for 2025 and hope they can convince Guerrero to return next offseason. It’s possible that they could revisit the possibility of dealing Guerrero at the trade deadline this summer if they’ve fallen completely out of the playoff picture by then, however, and if shopped Guerrero would be the most impactful rental moved at a trade deadline since Manny Machado in 2018.
Trade him.
To late to trade him now as you brought in guys like Santander on the premise that Vladdy was going to be here for the very least this year coming. Trading him would just make their reputation even worse.
They have the worst reputation, it doesnt matter. Its time for new FO to rebuiild.
Nah Miami has the worst reputation.
Dig – Red Sox have a worse reputation, maybe trade Devers for Vlad?
Devers is no Vlad
Then Devers and Casas for Vlad
Devers’ 125 career wRC+ is slightly worse than Vlad’s 137 wRC+, but Devers has been significantly better defensively (by OAA and UZR). Devers is also signed for 29mil AAV for the next 9 seasons.
I can see the argument that Vlad is better, but when accounting for the contract, I’d rather have Devers. That said, having both would be even better.
Mac – Devers would be at least $150M cheaper than what it would take to extend Vlad.
dsett – You realize Vlad is a free agent in less than 10 months, right?
WCS – Well said, thank you!
Devers has been steadier than Vlad so far
Devers has never been good defensively as evident by 141 errors in 8 year Guerrero isn’t perfect by any means but only has 58 errors in 6 years, and has won 1 gold glove.
But he’s signed. lol
@dsett75
Is that supposed to be a weight-matching offer?
Errors saved should be a stat because he has saved at least 50 of Bo’s throws.
dewey – Exactly!
Amazing how many people here can’t see the forest for the trees. LOL
Do that trade on the premise that Boston will immediately offer 10/4-450.
dsett – What about Casas?
Or do you think Vlad would accept being a fulltime DH?
Even if Vlad is worth over $400M, Casas has the potential to put up similar numbers to him.
Huh? Casas has a 2.9 career WAR, Vlady had a 6.2 WAR and 166 ops+ last season alone.
Poison – As a 23 year-old rookie in 2023, Casas struggled badly in April that year ….. and then from May 1st thru Sept 5th he put up a .941 OPS before a shoulder injury eventually ended his season.
Last year just as he had gotten locked in, he suffered the freak ribcage injury and when he returned he wasn’t the same.
But if the rib issue is fully resolved and he can swing with confidence again, there’s no reason he can’t put up another .941 OPS this time over 6 months instead of 4 months.
That’s why I made the comment I made.
.
What does this mean? So because they signed santander to a 5 year deal they have to give him 1 year of Vlad?
Dustey I never thought you would not understand this but what it means is when they signed players like Santander, Scherzer, Hoffman they were signed on the premise that this team would have at the very least there current roster for one year and they would continue to work to keep Vladdy and bring in others to compete. They did not sign with Toronto thinking oh well Vladdy does not sign the team will trade him and maybe others now.
I understand that but it’s a business and the jays need to do what’s best for them. The players who signed here understood Vlad and Bo are on their last year.
Would santander prefer one year of playing with Vlad if it meant auto last place finishes for the last 4 years of his contract?
You answered it yourself Dustey, when you said it’s a business. Being a business means you are handling multiple personalities in an effort to make MONEY. So losing Vladdy and getting prospects while pissing off free agents who WILL let it be know that this front office can not be trusted (al la former Florida Marlins owner )can’t remember his name)) vs. competing for at least one year and putting forth an image they are going to continue to put the best team on the field they can each year.
So this team with Vladdy vs this team with prospects and no Vladdy …..which sells more tickets and convinces FA they are trying to win?
I should state the Free Agents I am referring too are those that signed with Toronto on the premise that Vladdy would be here this year and the team were going to make an effort to resign him long term.
I think you’re over estimating this team by a lot Darth, Vlad or no Vlad they won’t be competing for the division this year.
On paper they are the fourth best team, and while anything can happen banking on everything going right and competing this year is not a winning strategy.
You may not need to get prospects, could get some MLB ready talent, especially if a team likes his evaluation and can get him on an extension as part of the trade
Dustey as a fan I am somewhat in ageement with you but from a baseball prospective I think they will do as I have suggested.
So as a fan i agree this should have been done years ago and Shatkins should have been fired years ago and the Blue Jays should have traded him for a haul (last year or the deadline) if they could not resign him, BUT the reality is they didn’t and here where are so now they have to do what has to be done… keep fans engaged (that includes casuals who don’t follow the team like us) and they have to make money.and trading Vladdy now will not do that for the reasons I suggested in my earlier post.
Most likely outcome is between the points 2 of you make. They will hope a highly motivated Vlad Jr plays at an MVP level first half…..and if the team isn’t realistically going to get a WC spot, he will be traded (along with a whole bunch of guys).
Darthyen
Respectfully, couldn’t disagree more.
Every day that Vlad isn’t traded now his price drops, and if it’s even remotely true that the two sides were nowhere near each other (and if Vlad is looking for $500M-plus, I’m actually on the team’s side here, since he’s simply not that player, regardless of his relative youth), then the team needs to deal him and get everything it possibly can for him now.
Because this team isn’t winning anything–TOR is very clearly the fourth-best team in the division, at best–and frankly, Santander and Co. will understand that this is just that: business, and a rather obvious bit of it, at that. (And if they don’t understand, then…oh well.)
Despite their best efforts on the FA front, everything with the Jays at this point just seems…off. So why continue down this particular drain, when you either take a few pennies on the dollar for Vlad (and perhaps Bichette) at the deadline or, far worse, lose them for nothing at season’s end? To do that would be organizational malpractice.
Vlad very publicly hung his “For Sale” sign this morning. It’s time to take that seriously, and move him now for what can be had…..
Comment you can disagree and that’s your right BUT you are missing the point of what I was saying and why I said it.. Baseball first and foremost is a business and owners will not do things that never make money.,.or at least that is their goal.
So trading Vladdy for prospects DOES make sense long term IF they did it before signing free agents this year. But they didn’t.
Ideally trading him last off season (assuming they could not sign him) or the very least last trade deadline would have been the best case scenario. It didn’t happen
So they signed FA with the premise that Vladdy was going to be here this year, with every effort to keep him beyond that. If you trade him now you are basically telling those FA that you lied and as an organization have zero credibility.That will make signing free agents beyond this year even more difficult because players talk and word gets around. Also a team with Vladdy has a better chance of being competitive than one which doesn’t.
The Blue Jays are a business and they want to make money, Not having a competitive team this year (regardless of what you think their chances of winning are) and not being able to attract free agents to put a competitive team on the field will not make them money now or in the future..
Darth
“If you trade him now you are basically telling those FA that you lied and as an organization have zero credibility.”
First of all, “those FA” aren’t FAs anymore; they’re Jays employees, being paid handsomely for their services. And while perhaps the team made it clear that it would make every effort to re-sign Vlad, the bottom line is that Vlad confirmed today that the two sides are FAR APART on a potential deal, and that he’s definitely going to FA now. For whatever reason, the Jays aren’t held in high esteem by FAs of late, other than to use as a massively wealthy stalking horse–something “those FA” also know. And to be frank, no one should care what Scherzer thinks (as a past-prime one-year-deal guy, who’s likely hopeful to post some good numbers on a not-so-good team and work a trade to a contender at the deadline), or to a lesser degree, what Hoffman or Santander (who didn’t so much as pick Toronto as he did end up there) think.
Seems fair to say that until there’s an organizational reboot, Toronto is always going to lag behind many other clubs as an attractive FA destination–and thus, the rebuild should begin while there’s still time.
If the Blue Jays want to simply roll out a team that’s not the league’s worst but nowhere near the league’s best, then…OK? I would argue better to signal to the fan base that they’re serious about building something new/better/sustainable, because otherwise, they’re just going to run out of Band-aids to slap on this team.
Because those FAs they signed can still help to keep the team somewhat competitive, while they set about actually competing on an annual basis in what looks like an ascendant AL East.
Because regardless of what a trade of Vlad would look like now, it’ll look much, MUCH worse when he (and perhaps also Bichette) leave for nothing.
Of course, as long as Shapiro/Atkins remain in power, it also seems that sideways is the only way this is going to go…..
@Darthyen..”Will let it be known that this front office cannot be trusted”…
Yeah, people think that Scott Boras only cares about getting the most MONEY for his clients. It’s little known that what Boras is really seeking during negotiations is a front office he can “trust”.
Most people don’t know that the reason that Juan Soto signed with the Mets has almost nothing to do with the $765M he was given. The whole thing was always about “trust”.
If they are in contention, Vlad stays. If they get off to a bad start, he’s trade fodder. If the players added didn’t understand how baseball works, that’s on them. Scherzer should understand after being on the Mets. Doesn’t seem to have prevented players form taking those NY $$$.
Would Santander prefer Toronto just let him walk for nothing but a draft pick, possibly up during his last year, or would he prefer Toronto fill some holes with ML ready talent so they might be able to compete while he’s there?
Vlad is selling this years tickets as its his last chance to be seen. How do they sell next years? No Vlad, but young ML ready talent, or no Vlad, and we got this lovely draft pick.
“Would Santander prefer Toronto just let him walk…or would he prefer Toronto fill some holes”…Anthony Santander is now the POBO/GM of the Toronto Blue Jays? When did this happen?
sure they did and you don’t read so the world keeps on spinning
I’m not sure if the fans realize this, but if the Jays slap an option on Vlad at the end of the year, since they now have a 270 million payroll, that takes them to the second level of luxury taxes and if a team signs Vlad, even for a billion dollars, the Jays will receive a compensation pick AFTER the FOURTH round or in the 140 – 150 range. It is basically giving away Vlad and Bichette for nothing. The time to trade him is now and the Red Sox have the top and seventh best prospects in baseball in Anthony and Campbell. An outfielder and a second baseman. Include Casas and the Jays have their new foundation players at first, second, and left – right field to replace Springer and Bichette. Gimenez slides onto shortstop and let that team roll and see what happens. Build with youth and let them grow together. Plus replace Schneider and Mattingly on the bench so the players have a chance to succeed.
Darth, no it didn’t. They were certainly told that they were working to make the Blue Jays more competitive.
They didn’t come to play with Vlad. They came to win games.
As we saw with the Padres, its possible if you have a really good GM to make a trade of a generational hitter and win more ballgames without them.
The Blue Jays have a number of holes in that roster. They need a CF, a DH, and while they have a good rotation, they have absolutely no healthy depth. There is a possibility that trading Vlad could make that team better overall.
And you know what Santander, Scherzer and Hoffman were thinking, how exactly ?
And you know what Santander, Scherzer, and Hoffman were thinking how exactly?
If you don’t realize that players are there to win, not to play with a specific player then you really shouldn’t be commenting here.
I hear cricket and rugby are big in Australia. Maybe focus on those sports.
Let him go free agent and sign him when he realizes that no one is giving him 400M.
They’d get a nice haul for Vlad. Considering what guys want for a rental that pitches every 5 days, it’d be quite the haul
Or he could do the weak American huge ego thing of creating multiple accounts to back himself up and promote his opinions.
@Dary
Too late to worry about their reputation, times running out now. They know the terms Vlad is seeking, and if it’s beyond where they’re willing to go financially then they need to move him for as much as they can right now. There will be teams willing to trade for him with the risk he’ll walk after 1 year, and they’re some that’ll be willing to not only trade for him but to extend a high market value to him as if he were a FA hoping that indoctrinating him into their culture early might give them an advantage over other suitors.
Ok I am making one last post to all the above responders in hopes that this time you read it fully and get the point I am making.
First and foremost the Blue Jays in Rogers Communications (the owners) eyes ……ARE A BUSINESSS and therefore they are about making money. In comparison Steve Cohen wants a title for bragging rights and money is not much of an object to get that vs. Rogers want to win in hopes of making more money. So that being said they do business on the basis of making money or potential of making money.
Secondly I have already stated my opinion as a fan and what they will do as a business versus what I want them to do.
Thirdly YES a teams reputation does mater and Scott Boras works for the player not the other way around so if a player dislikes/distrusts an organization that can be a big factor……ask former players how they felt about the Jeff Torborg owned Florida Marlins or even the current Rockies.
Fourthly a Vladdy team even for half a year vs no Vladdy team will create more revenue this year and YES that is a hugh factor for Rogers.
Lastly prospects are often over rated. They are only good if they produce a major league player at some point and they do not produce revenue until/if they do…….which is what Rogers cares about. So Rogers are looking at this year and the revenue with Vladdy and the team they assembled and next year if he leaves they will bring in players to try and fill the void.
Garth you proved our point by mentioning cohen.
Remember when he signed top FA’s and then traded them before a year? That was a breach of trust as you say, did that prevent Soto? Did you even remember?
It’s a business and it’s short term memory in most cases. If you’re winning people will always forget.
Reputation be damned, they have to trade him either now or at the in-season deadline. Letting him walk after the season would make the FO look even further inept.
Gator – It’s a tough call. If the Jays feel like they have a real chance to contend this year, they hold onto him and then try to extend him after the season.
If they trade him and don’t get solid MLB talent in return, they are giving up on the season and could lose a lot of money with high payroll and not high revenue.
Devers for Vlad
Only choice
Really dumb not to unless they really feel like they can compete this season. He’s just way more valuable in trade right now especially if you aren’t even going to consider going above 500 for him
I honestly don’t even think he’s that valuable in trade. Most everybody has 1b covered, Tucker got a good haul but was 11 MM cheaper and a more valuable player/position. It’s just too late, they may as well wait till deadline to see where everybody at. He could still net a top 100 prospect + a lottery/low A gamble then.
At the very least, if they fall out of contention, look at all the trade chips. They compete or improve the team’s through trades.
A very good FO.
A good ownership.
They invest in MLB talent.
The key being a good FO and owner. Both are lacking here.
Hard to argue with what Roger’s has provided the last 5 years.
Highest payroll, massive investment in to spring training facility and the dome. No complaints about Rogers, other than too long of a leash for Shapiro/Atkins
I think that’s the correct analysis.
Toronto should take advantage of the timing here. They should take advantage of knowing at the start of spring training that he’ s going to be gone and trade him now when they can get the most for him. I can see the Sox and other teams with good farm systems paying a lot.
If they want to contend in the playoffs …..
How Dumb can they be by not extending him???
Takes two signatures.
As I have asked others, so WHO are you suggesting the Blue Jays trade and replace them with players in Triple A because the Jays are already at a 270 million payroll with 100 million exchange rate to US funds. That puts payroll at 370 Million and give Vlad 50 million and the Jays even at 270 m will then have 9 million to spend on the other 25 players on the MLB roster. If they have five players at 30 M, that has just lowered the cost to 70 million for 20 players or 3.5 million per player. Actions have repercussions and fans screaming for nine 30 plus million a year players or even 40 M a year are whistling in the wind because the Jays wouldn’t and never will spend 800 million to field a baseball team each year. Sign Vlad and be prepared to watch a triple A team for ten years. That is reality.
The 270M is American. There is no exchange rate because all Jays players are paid in American currency.
Rogers are a Canadian company making Canadian dollars from their clients. NOT US funds. They have to exchange EVERY single dollar into US funds to pay the players. What part of that don’t you understand?
So, a Toronto sell off at the deadline and then the front office is replaced at the end of the season?
Yep, trade Vlad for Devers and prospects, and solve problems for both Red Sox and Blue Jays.
He has refused to learn English above kindergarten level despite being born in Canada.
Let the BoSox deal with him.
Toronto can play Devers at 3B and almost anybody at 1B.
George Springer can DH.
Devers uses an interpreter too. Don’t see why his english matters.
The fact that he is uncomfortable giving interviews in English does not mean that he is “refusing to learn English”.
For all the people who are in the trade him camp, when is the last time any team gave 1b got over 200 million?
Steve Cohen said Vladi will be a New York Met
Trade him, Jays, and get max value now.
Max value would have been last deadline. Trading him now makes the decision to hold him last deadline look awful. But holding him now just because of that is just doubling down on poor decision making.
Doubtful they were even entertaining trading him at the deadline. No team with money would. So max value is honestly now for them as it was for the Pads last offseason with Soto. Funny enough, the Pads might make for a good trade partner.
The Pads and Mariners because they want to add, have GMs who are willing to trade good prospects, and might not be able to afford Vlad’s salary so the Jays can leverage big returns by subsidizing Vlad’s salary.
No chance the Mariners trade for Guerrero unless they can unload their bad contracts (Hanigar, Garver). They’ve had plenty of opportunities to increase their payroll this off-season and they are clearly content to run it back with the same cast of role players on offense that failed most of last season.
Unless the Pads trade them Cease and Suarez for glad I don’t see anyway that’s happening. Plus the jays would prob want another player or prospect.
If he had two years left I could see the padres trying to make a deal but with one year left I don’t see them trading their best prospects for him even if the jays are some money.
Deadlines don’t necessarily bring the best value, yes teams get him for 2 runs but you’re also negotiating with far less teams.
Nope, max value would have been in the 2021 offseason. Honestly his max value was possibly when he was still a prospect.
But at that time he also had more value to the Jays playing for them.
generational fumble
This happened with Albert Pujols in 2011 as well. It’s normal, what’s rare is a good player staying with one club his whole career
I feel like Jays fans are acting like Vlad has been Pujols.
Last off-season fans weren’t all clamoring for him to sign an extension when he was fresh off his .818 OPS season, which was actually his 2nd best season mark as he had been in the .770-.795 range in 3 of his first 4 seasons. The huge 2021 where he hit 31 of his 48 at “home” where those games were played split between Florida spring training site, a AAA New York park and Toronto was sandwiched between 4 good not great seasons.
If he has another great season this year, the mediocre years will be written off as youthful development issues that are no concern now. If he has a mediocre season this year, then it’ll cost him a few hundred million dollars. No pressure.
Pete Alonso is holding on line 1….he says it’s important. Ahahahahahaha!
padre – Last offseason he was coming off a .788 OPS season, the .818 OPS season was 2022.
Great points about 2021 playing in Sahlen (1.180 OPS) and TD (1.418 OPS).
So basically his 2024 season was identical to his 2021 season.
NYCityRiddler: Too late for Alonso. He re-signed with the Mets recently. Try to keep up.
Joey votto, Clayton Kershaw, Pete Alonzo, Barry Larkin, Derek Jeter are the rarities
Yadier Molina, Adam Wainwright, Tony Gwynn, Todd Helton, Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Mariano Rivera, Edgar Martinez, Felix Hernadez, Mike Schmidt, Chipper Jones, also fit in this group
Felix Hernandez is technically a part of that group but only because he opted out of the pandemic season with the Braves.
May as well trade him and get something out of him. Never should have reached this point. They made big offers to Ohtani and Soto, but can’t keep a homegrown talent and could have been a franchise icon for them.
To be fair it sounds like they offered him crazy money. Do you think Vlad gets more than $450M in FA? maybe, but not by that much more. We dont have exact data but supposedly they offered over $400M. Keep in mind Ohtani only got like $460M in actual team invested bux
Where did you see they offered him over 400M? The last report I saw a month ago said by Vlad camp that Jays offer was in the 340M range. But nothing else concrete since then.
There are rumors he request a number change on his jersey to 500.
Someone will probably give him $400-$450 M for 10 or 11 years but I don’t see him getting more. I’m a Mets fan and I don’t even see Cohen and Stearns going more than that. I don’t think Stearns wanted to go that big for Soto but Cohen was driving that negotiation.
Hes not gonna get paid more than that. Hes an average at first base only bat. And, he’s always been overweight.
He’s not getting a 15 year contract. Bad call on his part. He better rake better than ever this year.
The guy who led all first baseman in most of the offensive stats is an average bat for the position, sure. He only had the most WAR, highest OPS, OBP, SLG, highest batting average, most total bases, etc at the position. Been in hibernation for a year?
Vlad Jr dodged a bullet. Jays front office not capable of fielding a winning team. He’ll get paid handsomely elsewhere, and will thrive away from that dysfunctional atmosphere.
SoCal media has him coming to the Angels. Vlad Sr. works for the Halos and Jr. basically “grew up” in the Angels org. Arte will find a way to eff it up, but that’s apparently the current strategy.
The Angles always have one superstar surrounded by a bunch of old, broken or simply expensive guys who are in no position to support a playoff run. Trout and No One! Ohtani and an injured Trout! Injured Trout and Injured Rendon!!! May as well try Vlad and Old Trout, what the heck.
You’re making me hungry for old trout.
nuke – Arte will be competing with Cohen, and Cohen usually wins. Playing with his BFF Soto is also a huge draw for Vladdy.
I could see that. Angels need to find some way to continue holding the worst contracts in baseball. This would be a fitting replacement for Rendon.
Plus this way, next winter we’ll be able to read how Toronto went hard after him & “just missed” Ahahahahahaha!
Hope we lose the 1st 20 games and then trade him and Bo soon after to get as much back as possible. Would rather that than have him cripple the franchise. He is good but if $400M isn’t getting it done then move on. Sounds like he wants Soto money.
He deserves it; according to the current economic landscape.
no surprise at all once I found out he has Boreass as an agent
chrc – Where did you hear that? Magnus is his agent, not Boras …. unless something changed very recently.
He’s coming to the Meta next year.
Book it.
Zuckerberg will not be outbid….
Trade him immediately and then fire the entire front office. Disgraceful.
Toronto should pay him whatever he wants and then trade everyone not named VGJ to build a team around him. Probably too late though …
So Vlad set a deadline, but it’s not really a deadline? Such negotiating power.
He’s playing out his contract. What else is there? If they show up with a wheelbarrow full of cash he’ll obviously take it, and if they don’t he’ll leave. The deadline is mostly to amuse you in the offseason since the team is going to team and the player is going to play. There was no threat of hold-out or anything substantial here.
He said he won’t negotiate during the season, what is confusing
If they back up the truck, he may take it. Negotiating is a back and forth. He’s told them what he wants. If they want to keep him, they’ll have to pay every penny of his ask.
So no negotiation in the season then. Nothings changed
He won’t, but his agent will pick up the phone on his behalf.
He said today he’d listen to in-season offers, so the deadline wasn’t a deadline.
He’s leaving the door open to keep the Blue Jays on the hook. If it was a hard deadline, the Blue Jays may get the idea of moving forward. Losing his original team in the free agency bidding 10 months before FA would be a colossal mistake by his agent. So they tease use with the door ajar. Realistically, Guerrero wants out of Toronto for numerous reasons. Canada doesn’t make it easier than in the US. There are places closer to home he might prefer.
Trading him before the first game keeps his draft compensation available I believe. Not much incentive but it still has a value to the receiving club.
Shapiro has blown this badly. For years telling all fans and sponsors that Vlad is their guy and the future of the organization. Yet, never bought out any arbitration or free agent years. Made sure everyone knew they offered Soto $600 million which only increases Vlad’s ask. If they don’t bring him back, it makes EVERYTHING that Shaprio has said during his tenure a lie, and it shows the rest of MLB that the organization does not value its star players. It makes no difference if you like Vlad as a player or if he is “worth it” as a player, from an organizational perspective, not bringing him back derails this organization for 15 to 20 years.
I love Vlad but he’s not in the same ballpark as Soto.
Soto has never had an average year, ever. It’s a high priced signing but relatively low risk.
Vlad has had multiple seasons where he was painfully average. There is way more risk with a long term deal for Vlad than there was for Soto.
If Vlad has another .800 OPS year in 25, he will be looking at more of an Alonso type deal vs a Soto type one
I don’t think there’s any world where he slips to the Alonso side of the scale. Even with a down season. If he was coming over from NPB where you would be valuing him based on the measurable tools and skills beneath the surface results at his age, do you think there aren’t teams willing to make big bets? Similarly, I think there are teams that will make those bets based on the abilities more than the results in MLB with him.
He was a 1.3 war player with 118 Wrc+ in 2023, Pete has never had a full season below 121wrc+ and 2.1 WAR.
If Vlad has a 2023 type season he will be much closer to the Alonso evaluation than the Soto. No team is going to give him 10 years when his performance has that much fluctuation
I still think you are referencing a great range of outcomes over multiple years. Like mutual funds that might decrease in value over any one year period but are safe bets to increase in value over a three year period.
This is a bit of mental gymnastics, but I’m disregarding his age 20 and 21 seasons as players like Alonso and Judge were still in college then while Vlad was developing in the majors and holding his own as an above average major league hitter at that time. After that you have a floor of 118 wRC+ with a good 133 and two excellent 165, and 166 wRC+ seasons. Even in his 118 wRC+ season, the underlying metrics were great. It was a .378 xwOBA. It’s the only season where his xwOBA was noticeably higher than his actual wOBA. So even if we want to use his .351 xwOBA from ‘22 as the floor, that season saw a perfectly matching actual wOBA that translated to a 132 wRC+. That’s a really high floor for a player who has also had seasons with xwOBAs over .400. You’re not making the investment with a short window to tap into the ceiling. Of course there will be better and worse years over the course of the many prime seasons he still has to offer a team. The floor is still very high for the ceiling he has and the multiple opportunities to hit that ceiling.
Granted even though the market doesn’t value good surface numbers when the underlying doesn’t support it, doesn’t necessarily make the opposite true. Teams don’t generally buy high on under the surface without actual results in line with them, but at Vlad’s age, I think they will.
Jays had a chance to extend him before Soto signed. They screwed that up.
The decision is balancing a risk that someone like Soto moves the market on them (which happened) vs Vlad playing poorly enough to become affordable (which did not happen) or prove that he’s no longer the guy who put up those huge seasons of his youth (again, did not happen.) So now he’s really worth what he was asking and the cost of top talent has leapt preposterously upwards and the gamble to delay a year has failed.
The next choice then becomes how to address the coming CBA war after 2026. If there’s an extended outage are they better off rebuilding during the strike? Do they want $200m on the books when there’s a chance the money shifts around to their detriment? Cynical me says rich teams will protect their money and they’ll do what they want, but even more cynical me thinks they’ll try to save some cash if they think things might get ugly.
Yeah, absolutely agree there. Extremely poor timing = extremely poor management? Or did Team Vlad put the brakes on any deals until after Soto signed? That I would love to know. Just out of curiosity.
This front office botched this by waiting too long but Vlads career has not been a straight line so it’s probably been hard to put a price tag on it.
That being said, it shouldn’t be hard to make him the highest paid 1B in the league, but that may not be enough after he saw the Soto contract. If he’s asking for 450+ it simply doesn’t make sense for the jays, or most teams to pay that to someone stuck to 1B.
Vlad is also taking a big risk here, when he’s had to carry the offense or in high pressure situations, he chases and grips the bat a bit tight, if he has another 2023 it will take hundreds of millions out of his next deal.
Anyways, sad to say it’s time to trade him, can’t risk losing him for a comp pick when his value is this high.
They will wait to trade him until the deadline to see where they are in the playoff picture.
Too much risk.
If he gets hurt around then he can’t be traded, or if he gets off to a slow start his value will drop.
Also run the risk of being close to a wild card spot and thinking it’s best to keep him, like what happened with the Angels and Ohtani.
Rip off the bandaid now
Let’s replace Atkins before we trade Vladdy. Atkins cannot be trusted any further.
They wont trade him as Atkins’ contract expires at season’s end. A contending year and a few prospects developing might save his job.
If they trade him now and he might as well start packing the contents of his desk into a box.
The correct move would be to fire Atkins now, and get another GM who might be able to salvage the Vlad situation, have a decent draft, and do the deadline teardown
Ducey….That sounds like the most logical, sensible thing I’ve read on the Internet this week.
They’ll still be able to get a good haul for him at the deadline. Can’t wave the white flag til later in the season cuz of fan revenue….
And if he gets hurt? What did the jays get back for Donaldson ?
Jullian Merriweather and they kick in 3M. The winning move was to hold onto Donaldson and qualify him at the end of the season.
The winning move would have been to trade him a year before
They certainly aren’t going to flush all that fan revenue down the toilet for a bunch of prospects….
What do you think is going to happen next year ?
Happening regardless. Trying to delay the inevitable….
If you trade him now for Devers you lock in fans….
The Fan revenue will be miniscule.
Let the bidsing begin
Not worth 400k for a 1b. He’s not worth more than Devers. Ohtani and Soto are unicorns and at another level.
I would even argue Soto shouldn’t have been a unicorn, but he only was due to his age and success already. His contract literally won’t age well after about 4 or 5 years.
Soto was the new shiny toy that Cohen overpaid for. Ohtani is getting paid with investments, so he really dint get that much over the top-tier guys. Vlad Jr is looking at $500 mil tops without deferrals. Be a while til someone sniffs Soto money again….
paosfan
Don’t compare Ohtani (a true unicorn, and almost incalculably valuable) and Soto (a soon-to-be DH who had the great good fortune of coming available younger than most AND having NYC’s little brother needing to beat Big Bro in a bidding war at any cost, simply because it could finally win).
What’s much crazier still is how relatively inexpensive Ohtani’s deal was made, the second Soto agreed to that categorically insane offer from Cohen….
CSC, Obviously Ohtani is the unicorniest of them all.
That said Soto showed up as a 19 year old and was immediately one of the beat bats in the game. Heck Aaron Judge is a unicorn in his own right, yet he only had 1 season under his belt when he was how old Soto is today.
I’m not the biggest Soto fan and think he is a me first individual, but he is a very talented hitter who will go down as one of the greats. Heck he might approach 700 bombs when all is said and done.
Another long term contract that won’t age well waiting to happen!
It’s hilarious to read the same comments about how the front office is trash and shatkins should be fired.
Do you think there’s a button they can just push to sign Vlad to a contract extension WITHOUT him hitting free agency?
HE WAS SET TO HIT FREE AGENCY NO MATTER WHAT!
People, please understand that!
These top level guys have no control until this point in their careers and you think they’re going to pass it up?! Not a chance!
Betts, trout, machado, lindor, tatis, Devers, Stanton, Cabrera, votto, Ramirez etc etc
Lots of players passed up going to free agency, you’re wrong as usual.
There is no magic button that part is correct but the fact that they are in this situation is 100% on them. If they had no intention of signing him long term, which is fair, he should have been moved off the roster for younger, cheaper players.
Now you run the very real risk of losing a franchise player for just a comp pick, like everything else this FO touches, it’s worst case scenario
“Betts, trout, machado, lindor, tatis, Devers, Stanton, Cabrera, votto, Ramirez etc etc”
Which is the most recently signed contract extension? Do you think mlb will see guys re-signing more or less often? Also, a few of those guys “re-signed” after being traded so it’s not exactly like one team careers. But you knew that.
They still didn’t test free agency.
Ramirez, Acuna, albies and devers signed extensions while Vlad was in the mlb, those teams focused on locking up their franchise players. jays FO didn’t.
jays have signed 2 extensions since this FO came together, Berrios and Grichuk lol
Well, if you look at the results of the franchise during his time, how much of a franchise player was he?
He’s 25 with 2 MVP calibre seasons. Not his fault the FO didn’t surround him with adequate coaching and help
A lot of those extensions were under different circumstances. Guerrero or Toronto didn’t engage in satisfactory talks prior to ’23. Toronto might’ve had a shot in ’23 and done something like the Tatis Jr. deal; however, I don’t think they were ready to commit to a 1B that much. As the market prior was vastly below.
The last moment was probably when Devers got his extension. After that all the leverage kept compiling for Guerrero even with his down season in ’23. The Ohtani-offseason blew the doors open, and the Soto deal ruined the Blue Jays chances. As Soto was signed regardless of his defense. It opened the door for Guerrero to hold all the cards.
It remains to be seen if this was a wise decision with the looming commercial debt credit bubble; however, the Blue Jays do have to recognize their location isn’t preferable to many spots in the US.
Jays offered him an extension after 2021, they had their chances
Realistic offer? Realistic like beauty, is in the eye if the beholder.
Welcome to the New York Mets!!!!
It’s a sad situation. The Jays will now be joining a majority of owners voting for a lock out in 2027.
However, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. does not expect to reach his toes when bends at the waist.
Maybe if you put a donut down there on the ground next to his toes
Habichuelas con dulce. Or maybe he has already had a few too many of those.
that’ll never get it done. Any trade needs to start with Allen Webster, Henry Owens, and Brian Johnson. Maybe dangle Bryce Brentz too
Straight up for Devers
If reports were true and they offered 340 million and he didn’t take it then as a devout jays fan I’m okay they didn’t sign him. I would like if they would trade him however, but we will see what happens there.
He has not been a winner, (unlike Soto) he has been frustratingly unprofessional at times, including showing up 60 pounds over weight the first season, and pimping home runs in 8-1 losses etc. Not knowing what he’s like the clubhouse, but he hasn’t really grasp the English language and I’m sure that don’t help much either.
The second half of your post is insane, go touch some grass. Thank goodness people who think like you are dying out
Alotta the foreign players just use an interpreter, because it’s comfortable and easier. Don’t hafta think and search for the words in your head to express an idea. Trying to be multilingual is hard, man….
I just figure it’s hard to be a leader if you can’t talk freely and openly with your teammates. Also, your market is English, don’t you think that’s good for your brand? I get it’s hard, so is staying shape, and being professional, but if you want top dollar, well then in my opinion you need to check all the boxes.
A good chunk of the team speaks Spanish.
His English also isn’t bad, just doesn’t want to do interviews in his second language
His verbal contributions to TV commercials have been very limited to date. Surely they could have created some lines amounting to more than just a few grunts.
Bro, Vlad and other non-Anglos only use interpreters for tv interviews and other p.r. stuff. They talk and get along fine with their teammates in the clubhouse….
So the amount he is being paid, and wants to be paid at, is not enough to trouble himself learning a language? If I got a job in France, or Spain, I most certainly would attempt to learn the language. It just might make my life easier.
He speaks English.
How many languages do you speak now?
You guys act like it’s so easy, I speak 3 languages and unless you learning young it’s a really difficult task. You’re being ridiculous.
Gimme 500 million I’ll figure it out 🙂
Baseball ain’t about speaking languages. Personally, I only care about my team winning chips….
Step 1: remove Shapiro and Atkins
Step 2: add a new POBO and GM
Step 3: trade everyone, including Vlad.
2 words: Dodgers Deferral
What team is going to make that mistake next offseason?
“Guerrero noted he “would not close the door” on signing if Toronto brass presented him with a “realistic” offer”
So you’re telling me there’s a chance…
There’s no need to trade him now. If they’re out or contention in late July, then okay, but now.
Between Vlad playing for a potentially gargantuan contract and Bichette motivated to bounce back and also seeking a big payday, and with Santander on hand, they have a chance to compete this year. That’s worth holding onto Vlad to see how the season plays out.
If the Jays are in fourth place with a sub-.500 record come July 25, then they can look to fleece a contender. Really, how much different would the return be if they traded Vlad now to a team that’s not feeling the urgency, versus a team at the deadline that is more likely to throw caution to the wind when trying to secure Vlad’s services for 2-plus months?
And if they are 3 GB of the last wild card spot? What then? Or if he gets hurt and can’t be traded.
Are you going to take that risk and end up with almost nothing back?
Teams have spent their budgets. Their rosters are full. Few need a 1B. Trading now is not really an option.
What part of your excuse list changes by the deadline?
Jays’ front office is out-of-touch.
Oh no the super inconsistent 300lb first basemen wants to go to free agency. I’d be stoked about this if I was a jays fan. This should make it pretty easy to trade him as early as possible and get some decent prospects back
I am beyond angry with Blue Jays management. Pathetic and incapable. I don’t know what else to say.
You, sir, are totally right.
Devers and Yoshida for Vlad Jr.
As much as many Jays fans may hate to hear this, letting him walk is probably the smart thing to do. If he really is asking for 350+ million that feels like a very steep overpay. Don’t get me wrong I think Vladdy is a fantastic young player, but he seems to alternate between seasons that are elite, to some seasons that are just pretty good. If he hits like last year for the length of the contract then sure, he is worth it. But I don’t see the consistent track record that shows that he will be that guy.
Fools gold for whatever team decides to severely overpay him.
Let’s see if the Yankees put together something to bring him into play Third this year
I doubt the Jays trade him to the Yankees.
Yanks traded all of their chips for Soto. They have 1 prospect left in the top 100. Not to mention Vlad ain’t signing there, he hates the Yanks… bitter history with his dad.
He gone.
Dodgers
The league leader over the past 4 years in GIDP wants a record contact.
Top 5 GIDP of all time list
Pujols
Cabrera
Ripken
Ivan Rodriguez
Aaron
Dodgers 10 year 600mil. 580 deferred
mets 1-4 in the lineup next yr
lindor, vientos, soto, vladdy
I can see the Dodgers moving on from Freeman and the last three years of that contract for Vlad
@youjust
yeah but as you have proved over and over again you don’t know what you are talking about. I have seen your ridiculous trade proposals on the Giants thread and your otherworldly posts on the Padres thread.
They have the money to throw around for Soto and Ohtani, but not for their homegrown Vladdy? Yikes.
Those guys don’t have problems with overeating lol.
I am very curious to see what he does this season given the stakes. It’s always interesting to see how things can change in a year.
Yes!
The risk/reward in NOT going giving Vlad $ is a no brainer.
He’s only had 2 good years and with his body type, he’ll regress fast. Plus there’s injuries as he puts the weight back on.
(He’s only looking like this for the contract)
He loves food and once he’s signed there’s nothing the Jays can do about his eating. At $40M a year! No thanks.
The first 3-5 years could be great but, the last 7 will be the worst contract in baseball.
*Everyone will be going…Why did they sign him for 450M?
Trade NOW and get some real value, not the deadline when he’s just a 2 month rental.
At no point did I ever think he actually intended to sign an extension before reaching free agency unless the Jays offered him a contract approaching Soto money. Whatever their highest offer was will be his floor when he starts negotiating with other teams.
With that said though, it’s still very much time for the Jays to can Shapiro and Atkins.
Or, he could end up like Bregman, with the published number he declined acting as a ceiling to other teams.
Trade him now. Boston is going to run the division for years and even if the Orioles continue to cry poor, they’ll still be competitive for the next few seasons. Load up on young players, the books are going to be very wide open after 2026 for additions.
I wonder if he’ll come to Seattle. The Mariners would give him the best chance at winning a World Series.
can be mad at the jays for not locking him up earlier, that was definitely a mistake. but at this point, if he wants 450mil+, i dont think you can fault the jays for walking away.. that’s way too much for just a hitter.
before anyone brings up soto and ohtani – soto was definitely an overpay. ohtani is not an overpay since a lot is deferred and from what the dodgers have said, he brought in 70mil+ in revenue alone so his contract is easily justifiable from both standpoints.
if vladdy had been posting elite numbers for 5 years straight then maybe you can argue it, but he has only done it for 2 seasons and plays 1b, i dont think 450mil+ is reasonable, even 400 seems excessive.
jays should’ve locked him up earlier but they didn’t which was their mistake but walking away from a 450mil demand doesn’t seem to egregious..
Nope, he’s too much of a risk. Blue Jays handled it right. Trade him or watch him crawl back and beg.
Let’s see where he ends up, performs and for how long before stating a club got played.
Trade Bo and Vlad Jr now. Neither want to stay anyways.
Vlad to Sox for Devers. Perfect match
Let’s face it. He has shown inconsistencies throughout his career. I am not committing that much money to a guy like him. I’d definitely throw that kind of money to Ohtani or Soto. But the Jays Front Office has been so dumb though. Why get Santander, Hoffman, Gimenez, and etc if you did not have a. concrete plan to secure Guerrero for a long-term? All that money was spent for nothing and we will have to rebuild/tool They should have tried extending him earlier. This could have attracted guys like Burnes too. And trading for bonus before even acquiring Sasaki? Sasaki did not even care about bonus that much anyway. If he cared about money, he could have waited two years and sign full FA contract. The Front office has been dumb.
How much is coming off the Yankee payroll, as they seem to have spent to their limit? How much influence does Sterns have with NYM? He certainly doesn’t like paying for 1B. That was Alonso’s mistake. He expected the two NY teams to get in a Soto type bidding war, but it never occurred.
137 OPS+ vs 134 OPS+
The difference is age.
The FO just doesn’t like Vlad, it was apparent in a previous arbitration hearing after Vlad came out of that saying it’s a business. I knew he was gone after that and no way was the brass going to pay him right, this was long before Ohtani and Soto.
trade Vlad and Bo ASAP for a package of players, turn these lemons into lemonade. But I wonder if the FO can manage even that. Maybe not
make no mistake this has been a mismanaged decision going on for two or three years. they should have extended Vlad and Bo both earlier but didn’t and no surprise they are walking away. (Bo more likely now).
Calls for Shapiro and Atkins to be fired are not trivial; this is a pivotal event in the life of the club utterly botched and needs to have consequences. This limits our ability to attract players and will be an albatross as long as these two exist here
Why wouldn’t he?
This pretty guarantees he’ll be signing with the Angels next season.
I’m starting to think this isn’t the FO fault… it is their fault for waiting too long but I think Vlad is being unreasonable and thinks he’s Juan Soto now… tbh I hope he has a down year.and then learns his lesson
Not a lot of teams have resources to make a legitimate trade offer – in the AL, Boston, Baltimore, Seattle; in NL, Dodgers? Pirates, Phillies? A couple of those may think they’re better positioned to get him as a FA… even in late July it’s going to take an impressive haul IMO. Yes, Jays have little leverage but playoff teams could add a massive bat. I hope he re-signs in Toronto (& they fire Shapakins) but if not an Anthony, Casas, Perelas & blaze Jordan would feel OK
Unfortunately, Blue Jays can’t retain anyone
So 800 Mil 15 years ?
Maybe time to fold the Jays and move it to some place like Arkansas. They can’t get anyone to sign, fans aren’t going to travel to the US to see them anymore…and US fans soon wont be permitted to leave their own country.
I don’t know Vlad, I don’t know what he and/or Boras thinks his worth is or , if he has a preferred destination. I do believe there’s a chance his free agency is similar to Bregman’s in that team Vlad has a number be it AVV or total $’s in their head and they don’t find someone in the market who agrees.
Soto isn’t a comp for anyone, not in years, not in AVV and as a two way player neither is Ohtani, nor is Judge. who has defensive value, is more consistent offensively and does not have ANY conditioning question marks. TOR $340M offer doesn’t have years but that in total that it’s under Judge’s is reasonable.
Being dead serious, how is he not on a GLP-1 this whole off-season getting into the “best shape of his life”. Show TOR he’s vested in his longevity in MLB plus set himself up for a ridiculous platform year like Judge had, THAT is how you get paid. Not because your agent says you’re “worth X”
JackCoke, Just want to inform you Boras “IS NOT” Vlad’s agent!!!
Who his agent is doesn’t impact the substance of my post which is Vlad’s market value. Team Vlad and TOR couldn’t agree on a market value. Reported guaranteed $’s were just short of Judge $, the years are unknown but in $ terms that sounds like the very recent market. Vlad thinks there’s more for him on the market, chooses to bet on himself and do this dance in the winter. It’s his life, his career good for him.
What happened to Bregman,Alonso and even Bellinger are cautionary tales, Alonso in particular and how MLB views 1B in general applies to Vlad plus things like his conditioning and just how his body will age, I dunno I guess we’ll find out.
Kansas City is needing a 3rd baseman with his stats. They didn’t fare well getting outfield help in the offseason.
So many fans blaming Shapiro and Atkins, but two of the main players in Rogers — including Ed Rogers himself — were in on this. I’m sure they had the final say, with input from Shapiro and Atkins. IMO, a dumb move, damaging the brand of the team and of Rogers itself. Vladdy is/was the face of the franchise, Signing stars long term is always a risk in any sport, but you have to do it and they didn’t. This team doesn’t have the institutional drawing power of the Yankees or Lakers in the NBA. Fans aren’t going to come regardless, and free agents aren’t either. They should have struck while they could. Sure, Rogers is a publicly traded company and responsible to its shareholders, but if you’re going to play safe, then don’t own a baseball team.
Obviously you aren’t using reality in your post. Rogers are the top spending team in MLB with a yearly payroll of 240 million. In 2025, the team has a 270 million payroll. The exchange rate is currently 30 cents on every dollar the club MUST pay in US funds. That is almost 90 million Canadian, which just made their payroll 360 Million dollars for the current team they are fielding. Now, explain how Rogers is responsible for not giving the team the resources to sign players. Ohtani is the exception. He would make back his 700 million in advertising and new Japanese fans in both North America and Japan. Soto was expecting to sign in the 500 – 600 bracket, but no one saw the Mets raise his salary into the 800 bracket. All that did, which rivals when they signed Verlander and Scherzer is show New York didn’t care about salaries or about the rest of MLB. Now EVERY player believes they are worth 50 m per season and what happens to the small-market teams when even bench players cost 30 million a season on an extended offer?. Simple answer is all these players demanding 20 million or more will be forced to retire for young minimum wage players. A team might be able to afford one or two talented players on their roster, but for most teams, 100’s of players will be forced out of baseball due to their greed and the greed of the MlBPA. Free agents in 2026 will include Guerrero, tucker, Alonzo, plus numerous other players all hoping to cash in and they will be forced to accept one year contracts as teams shift to short term instead of long term disaster contracts that are for three to five years.
you can’t pay a first baseman 45 Mil and have a total payroll of 250 Mil let alone one that might end up producing only 2 War.
I agree with you but just a heads up that Rogers hedges for currency, they put accounts in UsD when the exchange is good so they aren’t overly impact when that rates drop
When has the exchange rate been good in the last 10 years. The exchange rate is always tried to be kept at 30 % to encourage Canadian commerce.
They bought like 2b of USD at 91 cents.
WRONG Jose Ramirez!!!!!!!!!!! This website is sooo inaccurate!!!!!!
Calm down huckleberry. Good lord
I wonder if these last few years were a fluke and the window to huge paydays will come to an end? There are only a small number of teams that could accommodate Vlad outside of Rogers deep pockets. I’m sure Soto’s payday went to Vlad’s head but he’s not as consistent. $450 Mil should have been enough. Maybe I was too harsh on the FO after all (but I still hate them for taking it to this point)
the only thing bigger than Soto’s contract is Vlad Jr’s ego.
the drama queen loves the attention so anyone surprised this is dissolving into a soap opera? Vlad should stop watching sportsnet highlights of himself, keep quiet and be a pro. If you don’t plan on staying with the team you are on and feel the grass is greener elsewhere then play out you contract and see ya later.
The so called deadline was a lame immature move by a man child looking for more and succeeding in only alienating others. Did he actually think it would work ?
Here’s something you should keep in mind. Almost no one wants to play in Canada. Canadians should show more respect to the players that offer to stay. Can’t wait to watch him clown the Blue Jays for the rest of his career.
show respect ? I hardly think the toronto organization is guilty of not catering to this big baby. The Jays organization personal promo tv station called Sportsnet practically has worshipped him over the years. If he thinks he will be a big star somewhere else than see ya later . He can start helping his marketability by learning a few words in casual english and laying off the cheeseburgers
Time to learn how to process your emotions a bit better JD
I will enjoy watching him play for the Yankees next year.
Dodgers…
Toronto is one of the biggest cities in the world. They are the only team in Canada.
This isn’t a big market team.
It’s a HUGE market team.
But it STILL can’t compete with NY and LA.
And the rules of MLB won’t allow it.
TRASH league.
what rules exactly do not allow Toronto to compete?
Jays have a massive payroll and a mediocre general manager.
The rules aren’t the issue.
Rumors Vlad was wanting upwards of 600 million.
Can they please fire Shatkins now?
Excuse me ? “the Yankees and Orioles augmented their already playoff-caliber clubs” ? Orioles lost Burnes and santander and brought in Oneil , Sugano and morton . And you can argue the yanks got better but they still lost Soto.
Orioles biggest boost is going to come from their young players getting more experience and better.
O’s are going to be an offensive force
If the Jays are out of it at the deadline, I could see trade happening. They will probably get a couple decent players for him too. No top prospects, but usable players.
Maybe Freddie Freeman gets hurt. Dodgers could send Outman and Pages… maybe a prospect like Alex Freeland for a month of Guerrero. Dodgers desperately want to repeat.
Mets will not be open to signing Vlady to an 10-12 year contract. He’s young enough but tieing up two roster spots for 10+ years and $80m+ is bad business. More important is Vlady is a big body 1Bman and likely will not age well past 30.
Just as expected, this FO come blunder into a gold mine and still end up broke……any Jays fan could see this coming and the fact that ownership has not once taken, well ownership, of the mistakes this FO has committed is almost as pathetic as the actions of the FO itself!! They have had 5 years in which to negotiate with Vladdy and could have signed him for prob somewhere around 67% of what it will now cost Rogers to sign him….should have done after his monster 21 season when they knew they had a beast but waiting until after Soto signed might actually be criminal tbh
Atkins/Shapiro tenure has to be seen as a failure at this point.
and Orioles augmented their already playoff-caliber club
===========================
Not to get semantic on you, but they replaced Burnes with Morton, and replaced Santander with O’Neill.
I wouldn’t call that augmenting.
No players are worth $70 million a year. Soto and Ohtani contracts literally ruined the sport.
Reason enough to boycott Rogers. Spend some money. If you won’t spend money maybe we as consumers should give it to Bell or Cogeco. Mismanagement of assets is unbelievably bad. This mgmt team is awful.
One of the worst run teams in sports.
They should have signed him for 300 over 10 years 2 years ago.
Clown shoes — why won’t anybody sign here?
Cause they mismanaged bo and vladdie in comical fashion
maybe the Jays front office do not really believe Bo and Vlad Jr are cornerstone material to build around? They have the hair and dance moves but folks start to tire of watching them dance after a late inning HR in a 10 run loss
A smart team manages their payroll so they can afford a player like him
Throwing money at bad players cripples a team trying to afford a player like this
Well he can’t be a free agent with a contract can he!
Trade him
Toronto must have banana peels everywhere. These guys can’t stop fumbling around. They would be better putting on a board the things they don’t want to do. At least there would be a shot if getting it right. Sheesh
What a joke. Ross Atkins needs to go. The Blue Jays said they were all in on Soto and Ohtani but they knew they had a very small chance of signing either. Soto is arguably the best bat in baseball but his defence and running are below average. What makes this stink is you can’t come to terms with a home grown talent who is a top 10 bat in the league. Toronto fans should not support a team that management pretends to make it look like they are committed to making every effort to win. You have 750 million to offer Soto but you don’t have 450-500 million for Vlad? Something here stinks and the Blue Jays low balled him and Atkins says the contract would be record setting for the Blue Jays organization. The biggest contract the Jays have ever given out is a 150 million to George Springer. Pathetic.
On the one hand, he’s had a couple of seasons that would earn the kind of $40M+ AAV and his age logically lends itself to 12 to 15 year deals to lock him in for what’s left of the best years of his career- on the other hand, Vladdy, Jr. seems like a prime candidate to fall apart early-ish into a deal if it’s more than 8 years and in order for them to top $340M I am guessing they’d have to go to at least 10 years/$455M, even if $30M is a signing bonus and it remained a $42.5M AAV- and I have this feeling that Vlad, Jr.’s gonna fall apart by about 29 or 30 and could be an utter disaster and DFA-level by the time he’s like 32 or 33, etc. and he’s the next Prince Fielder or the next whomever on a massive deal, getting passed around every 2 to 4 seasons, teams trying to get a discounted version of the player and hoping for a bounce back with their trainers, their ethos, a change of scenery, different line up protection, etc. as the raw value of his production dwindles to nothing and he’s only getting playing time to justify his insane salary still on the books…
I’d be comfortable if he got like a combined 4 years/$180M and 4 years/$110M for 8 years/$290M, but even that would be steep in its AAV. There’s just a No Win Situation here- either overpay in years and dollars or underpay- but no player Vlad’s age/ceiling/name brand recognition wants to hear they are worth less than $400M full stop and will not be worth the $40M+ per season to achieve that.
Right now, full stop, I wouldn’t pay him more than 8 years/$250M and heavily front loaded.
Don’t worry I’m sure the Yankees are already drooling to sign yet another future DH. All there players can’t DH!