There can be no free-agent bidding battle for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this winter.
Not after the famous person slugger reached a reported 14-year, $500 million extension with the Toronto Blue Jays — the third-largest contract in MLB historical past, when it comes to whole worth.
It’s a deal that made sense for each side.
Guerrero, 26, is a Canadian citizen who had acknowledged his want to stay in Toronto. Guerrero, the son of Corridor of Fame outfielder Vladimir Guerrero, was born in Montreal throughout his dad’s tenure with the Expos.
The Blue Jays, in the meantime, can proceed to construct round Guerrero as a franchise cornerstone after their current free-agent pursuits of Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Max Fried and Roki Sasaki got here up brief.
Solely Soto’s 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets and Ohtani’s closely deferred 10-year, $700 million take care of the Dodgers are greater than Guerrero’s extension, which reportedly doesn’t embody deferred cash.
However Guerrero’s annual common wage of $35.7 million pales compared to Soto’s ($51 million) and Ohtani’s (about $46 million in present-day worth).
Guerrero, who signed with Toronto as a teenaged worldwide free agent a decade in the past, is a four-time All-Star who completed second in American League MVP voting in 2021. The correct-handed batter set profession highs final 12 months with 199 hits and a .323 common to go together with 30 residence runs and 103 RBI.
The settlement resolves a multi-year saga by which Guerrero and the Blue Jays repeatedly failed to return to phrases. In February, Guerrero mentioned the perimeters didn’t come near a brand new deal earlier than his self-imposed deadline.
“I want to be a Blue Jay for the rest of my career, but it’s free agency,” Guerrero mentioned on the time. “It’s business. I’m going to have to listen to 29 more teams and they’re going to have to compete with that.”
Juan Soto’s (proper) contract with the Mets is one in all solely two offers price greater than Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s (left) new extension with Toronto. (Photograph by Elsa/Getty Pictures)
Time will inform if Guerrero’s contract proves to be an outlier or if it resets the marketplace for first basemen. Groups have been reluctant to make long-term investments in power-hitting first basemen, notably over the age of 30.
Freddie Freeman was 32 when he signed a six-year, $162 million contract with the Dodgers in 2022. Max Olson was coming into his age-28 season when he inked an eight-year, $168 million extension with the Atlanta Braves.
Pete Alonso, 30, returned to the Mets this offseason on a two-year, $54 million contract with an opt-out that will permit him to check free company once more this winter. The Blue Jays had been among the many groups that confirmed curiosity in Alonso earlier than he re-signed with the Mets in February.
Amid the uncertainty round Alonso’s scenario, the Steve Cohen-funded Mets had been linked to Guerrero as a possible suitor. Mets followers even cheered for Guerrero throughout Friday’s Opening Day ceremony at Citi Discipline in a nod to his impending free company.
“To be honest with you, that’s normal for me,” Guerrero mentioned via an interpreter after Friday’s sport. “I never have been booed in any other stadium. Everybody always has been nice to me everywhere I go.”
Guerrero’s contract is by far the most important ever for a primary baseman, successfully doubling the 10-year, $254 million deal Albert Pujols signed with the Los Angeles Angels in 2011 and the eight-year, $248 million extension Miguel Cabrera reached with the Detroit Tigers in 2014. Pujols was coming into his age-32 season when he signed, whereas Cabrera was coming into his age-31 marketing campaign.
Guerrero’s extension removes him from a 2025-26 free-agent class that’s anticipated to be headlined by Chicago Cubs outfielder Kyle Tucker, a three-time All-Star who turns 29 in January.
Energy-hitting Japanese first baseman Munetaka Murakami, 25, is anticipated to pursue a transfer to MLB this winter as nicely.
