DUNEDIN – Bo Bichette and George Springer sat in a nook of the Blue Jays’ locker room on Monday, catching up on issues as they ready for morning exercises on the staff’s participant growth advanced.
The stall between them, usually occupied by teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., remained vacant, save for just a few uniforms, hoodies, warm-up pants and three plastic-wrapped baseball gloves.
Usually a presence within the clubhouse nicely earlier than reporting day for place gamers, Guerrero is as an alternative figuring out at a personal fitness center in close by Tampa because the hours ticked down on his player-set deadline for contract extension talks.
Guerrero, coming into the ultimate 12 months of his contract with the Blue Jays, was anticipated to reach at camp later within the day for his bodily. Place gamers have till Tuesday to formally report.
Guerrero has mentioned that if extension talks between his agent and the staff don’t end in a deal by then, he is not going to proceed negotiations.
The 25-year-old first baseman would seemingly be the largest title obtainable if he have been to turn into a free agent within the fall.
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Guerrero posted a photograph of his fitness center’s exercise space on his verified Instagram Tales feed on Monday, full with a clock emoji.
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The stress is squarely on a Blue Jays’ entrance workplace that should steadiness attempting to lock down the providers of a homegrown face of the franchise with its spending consolation stage on deal that may simply be the largest in franchise historical past.
Common supervisor Ross Atkins, who was on-site at camp Monday, has supplied few specifics on the talks. He mentioned final week that the discussions could be everything of his focus forward of Tuesday’s reporting date.
Guerrero hit .323 final season with 30 homers and 103 RBIs. He has been a key offensive cog within the Toronto lineup lately.
Guerrero got here up via the Toronto system and made his big-league debut in 2019. Within the 4 seasons for the reason that pandemic-shortened 2020 marketing campaign, he has averaged 34 homers and 101 RBIs a 12 months.
Either side could be taking a danger by not getting a deal signed.
Guerrero’s inventory may drop if his numbers slip or he suffers a critical damage. In fact, one other sturdy marketing campaign would solely pad his pockets much more down the street.
The optics of the Blue Jays shedding their famous person for nothing could be grim for a franchise with a aggressive window that’s open now however might not be past this season.
Signing the four-time all-star would additionally forestall a media circus when the Blue Jays take to the street this 12 months in big-spending markets like New York, Boston and Los Angeles.
Lacking out on an extension would even be one other blow after Toronto settled for being among the many finalists within the pursuit of superstars Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and Japanese pitching sensation Roki Sasaki during the last 12 months or two.
The Blue Jays seem to have the cash to spend and have been lively within the free-agent market this low season as they appear to rebound from a disappointing 74-88 marketing campaign.
They signed slugger Anthony Santander to a five-year deal value US$92.5 million and inked nearer Jeff Hoffman to a three-year, $33-million contract.
A Guerrero extension would blow these numbers out of the water. Relying on the time period, he may very well be taking a look at a deal someplace within the $450-million vary and even past that.
The Blue Jays lately averted arbitration with Guerrero for 2025 when the 2 sides agreed to a $28.5-million deal for the ultimate 12 months of staff management.
Pre-season play begins Saturday in opposition to the Yankees. The common season kicks off on March 27 in opposition to the Baltimore Orioles at Rogers Centre.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Feb. 17, 2025.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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