Toronto slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has constantly mentioned he needed to be a Blue Jay for his whole profession.
The 2 sides have agreed on a long-term megadeal that might very effectively make that occur.
The 26-year-old first baseman and Canada’s lone big-league workforce have agreed on a 14-year contract extension price US$500 million, a supply informed The Canadian Press early Monday morning.
The deal, which is pending a bodily, was additionally being reported by Sportsnet, ESPN and The Athletic.
The workforce has but to substantiate the extension. The Blue Jays, at present on a 10-day street journey, are scheduled to kick off a four-game collection in Boston on Monday night time.
Guerrero is within the closing yr of his present contract. With out an extension, the four-time all-star may have hit free company this fall.
The deal is by far essentially the most profitable in franchise historical past, far surpassing the $150-million, six-year deal that outfielder George Springer signed as a free agent in January 2021.
The Blue Jays took swings on the sport’s prime free brokers this previous low season — together with Juan Soto, who signed an MLB-record $765-million, 15-year take care of the New York Mets — earlier than extending one in every of their very own stars.
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Guerrero, who hit .323 final season with 30 homers and 103 RBIs, has spent his whole big-league profession in Toronto.
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The extension doesn’t embody any deferred cash, reviews mentioned. It’s the third largest deal in whole {dollars} behind Soto’s deal and Shohei Ohtani’s $700-million, 10-year take care of the Los Angeles Dodgers that started final yr and is closely deferred.
Guerrero’s $35.71-million common annual worth below the brand new deal ranks eighth amongst present contracts. Ohtani ($70 million) leads the best way in AAV with Soto ($51 million) behind him.
Former Blue Jays normal supervisor Alex Anthopoulos signed Guerrero as a 16-year-old in July 2015. On the time, Guerrero was ranked fourth on MLB.com’s top-30 record of worldwide prospects.
A Montreal native who represents the Dominican Republic internationally, Guerrero performed third base in his rookie yr earlier than transferring throughout the diamond within the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
His greatest yr got here in 2021, when he completed second within the AL MVP race after hitting .311 with 48 homers and 111 RBIs.
Guerrero received a Gold Glove in ’22 however his offensive numbers slipped a bit of, a pattern that continued in ’23. He was again in prime type final yr although, anchoring the lineup with a .940 OPS and .544 slugging share.
The extension was an enormous accomplishment for normal supervisor Ross Atkins and the workforce’s entrance workplace, who have been slammed by the workforce’s fan base and pilloried by native media for a few of their selections final winter.
The workforce did signal slugger Anthony Santander to a five-year deal however in any other case struck out in its try to land prime free-agent expertise. When Guerrero’s mid-February negotiation deadline handed and not using a deal, the pile-on continued.
Citing the will to restrict distractions at coaching camp and through the season, Guerrero deliberate to place contract talks on maintain. The four-time all-star did, nevertheless, depart the door open for the resumption of talks.
Stories surfaced in early March that the Blue Jays had supplied Guerrero a deal within the $400-$450 million vary. One other volley appeared to come back a few weeks later when reviews mentioned the workforce made one other supply.
The 2 sides have been ultimately capable of agree on an extension simply over every week into the common season.
Guerrero didn’t homer in his first 10 video games this season. Getting into play Monday, he has a .256 common and 4 RBIs.
Guerrero and the workforce averted arbitration for 2025 when the 2 sides settled on a wage of $28.5 million. His new deal would run by means of the 2039 season.
Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, a two-time all-star, stays eligible without spending a dime company after this yr’s World Sequence.
Guerrero was awarded $19.9 million for 2024 when an arbitration panel picked his request over the workforce’s supply of $18.05 million.
Guerrero hit .381 over 95 minor-league video games in 2018 and made his big-league debut with Toronto in April 2019.
His father, Corridor of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, was a nine-time all-star and 2004 AL MVP.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed April 7, 2025. With recordsdata from The Related Press.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
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