Has Vladimir Guerrero Jr. already rejected a contract extension?
Brace yourself Blue Jays fans!
Mike Rodriguez - a Spanish-language baseball reporter known online as Mike Deportes - has claimed that Guerrero turned down an offer in excess of $340 million from the Blue Jays.
According to Rodriguez, the report originated from former Major League All Star 2nd baseman, and Cleveland Indians Hall of Famer Carlos Baerga, himself now a Spanish-language broadcaster and analyst and friend to many Latino ballplayer.
It is unknown how many years the offer was for, or what the exact figure was as neither Guerrero's camp nor the Blue Jays have confirmed or denied.
For what it's worth Baerga was the first person to break the news of Marcus Semien signing with the Texas Rangers a few years back.
Regardless of whether the report is true or not, it doesn't necessarily mean the end of Guerrero's tenure as a Blue Jay.. A number of reasons exist for this.
The first is quite simply money. With Juan Soto signing a record-breaking $765 million contract with the New York Mets, Guerrero - perhaps rightly - figures he can squeeze the Blue Jays for money.
2nd, it's possible that the Blue Jays want to wait until at least part way through 2025. Although Vlad had an outstanding 2024, it took him a couple of years to get back to the numbers he had in 2021 and Blue Jays front office want to see if his success can carry over into next season.
It's also possible that Vlad himself doesn't want to engage in any talks until next winter.
The lack of talks with Vlad could also impact free agent signings as many might not want to come to a city and a team that can't lock up their biggest star. They feed off each other though.
It's also conceivable that Vlad was turned off by the Blue Jays singular aggressive pursuit of Soto and now of Corbin Burnes.
If there is reason to believe these reports however, it could simply be that Vlad and his team want a higher number.
At any rate, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is still a Blue Jay.
| POLL | ||
DECEMBRE 14 | 255 ANSWERS Has Vladimir Guerrero Jr. already rejected a contract extension? How much will Vlad Jr sign for? | ||
| More than 400 million | 118 | 46.3 % |
| More than 500 million | 104 | 40.8 % |
| More than 600m million | 33 | 12.9 % |
| List of polls | ||
