After agreeing to a $28.5MM wage to keep away from arbitration final week, the Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can flip their focus to a long-term deal. The four-time All-Star mentioned final month that the Jays had supplied him round $340MM, which he mentioned was effectively under his asking value. That supply reportedly predated Juan Soto’s $765MM settlement with the Mets that shattered prior contractual precedents.
Ken Rosenthal and Will Sammon of The Athletic report that the Jays haven’t had any extension talks with Guerrero’s camp since earlier than Christmas. That signifies there was little to no dialogue a few long-term deal within the talks to keep away from exchanging arbitration submitting figures. Nevertheless, Rosenthal and Sammon write that extension talks are anticipated to choose again up earlier than the start of Spring Coaching.
Guerrero mentioned final month that he would minimize off negotiations as quickly as Spring Coaching begins. It’s frequent for gamers to publicly impose deadlines — many desire to not talk about contracts as soon as the common season will get underway — however some gamers will finally proceed talks past these “cutoffs” in the event that they really feel negotiations are making progress. If each group and participant are amenable, extension discussions can happen at any level.
Whereas Guerrero isn’t going to get Soto cash, he’s clearly wanting effectively past the $313.5MM extension that Rafael Devers obtained from the Crimson Sox over the 2022-23 offseason. USA At this time’s Bob Nightengale wrote final week that Guerrero’s asking value was believed to be at or above $450MM. Jon Heyman of The New York Submit suggests equally, reporting that the previous MVP runner-up is trying to prime $400MM and will goal for a deal nearer to the half-billion greenback mark.
It stays to be seen whether or not the Jays have the urge for food for that type of funding. They made greater affords to Shohei Ohtani and Soto, suggesting they’re amenable to an enormous expenditure for sure gamers. Ohtani and Soto introduced alternatives so as to add superstars from outdoors the group. Extending Guerrero can be a serious increase to a fanbase pissed off by a collection of near-misses in free company during the last two winters. It may be essential to maintain the group from going right into a rebuild after subsequent season. Toronto already faces an uphill path to rivalry within the AL East. Competing in 2026 if Guerrero and Bo Bichette stroll might not be possible.
In any case, the main focus appears squarely on an extension. Rosenthal and Sammon write that the group a lot prefers to maintain Guerrero slightly than commerce him. They counsel that, to be able to even contemplate a commerce, the Jays would wish to obtain a haul that tops what the Yankees despatched to the Padres for one yr of Soto’s providers final winter.
New York despatched two seasons of Michael King — who had confirmed himself as a multi-inning aid weapon and flashed vital upside in a restricted look as a starter — because the headliner. The Yankees included highly-regarded pitching prospect Drew Thorpe (whom San Diego flipped because the centerpiece of the Dylan Stop deal), controllable depth starters Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez, and backup catcher Kyle Higashioka to the Padres. The Yanks additionally bought Trent Grisham within the deal.
That’s a large haul for one yr of any participant, which displays the Jays’ choice for holding onto Guerrero. Maybe that’d change if extension talks don’t progress, although it’d be a serious shock in the event that they dealt him earlier than Opening Day. Toronto hopes to compete for a playoff spot this season. They may nonetheless add one of many prime unsigned hitters (e.g. Anthony Santander, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso). Even when the Jays don’t achieve extending Guerrero, they’d presumably desire to see how issues play out within the season’s first half earlier than deciding whether or not to make him out there.
