If Vladimir Guerrero Jr is out, many Blue Jays fans vow to do the same.
To say that Toronto Blue Jays fans are not happy with Ross Atkins may be the biggest understatement of 2025. The Blue Jays inability to extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr over the years has frustrated true blue fans to no extent.
There are actually X accounts solely dedicated to it.
And now that it may be too late to retain the face of the franchise, even the most loyal fans may be gone too.
I've talked to many fans over the past few weeks about their thoughts on their loyalty to this franchise with this regime at the helm, and they're seriously considering going somewhere else.
With Vladimir Guerrero Jr being born in Montreal, and being a homegrown product from start to finish in Blue Jays farm system, Canadian fans feel a deep connection with Vladdy.
Former Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos (also Montreal born) and Director of Latin American Operations Ismael Cruz went all out to sign a 16-year old Vladimir Guerrero Jr back in 2015 to a $3.9 Million USD contract.
In fact they exceeded their assigned limit of US$2,324,100 for international signings by roughly $1.58 million, then traded two minor-league players to the Dodgers that helped them significantly reduce the tax penalty they must pay to Major League Baseball.
Anthopoulos and Cruz took a big chance because they were confident that Vladdy had the potential to be a very, very special kid.
All this in a two year span in which the Blue Jays also picked up Russell Martin, Josh Donaldson, Troy Tulowitzki, David Price and others which lead them to back to back ALCS appearances.
Say what you want about Anthopoulos depleting the farm system in that era, it was amazing baseball to watch at the time.
Fast forward to a decade later under this regime and we now have another depleted farm system, with no post season wins under an easier playoff format I might add, and a cores window that is closed after 2025.
The biggest part of the core Vladimir Guerrero Jr, is almost certain to hit free agency because of Ross Atkins inability to see his value.
And if Vladdy goes so will many of his fans. I talked to his biggest supporter and Blue Jays fan Perry "Gee" Giannias recently and if you don't know who Perry is, let me enlighten you.
He is the biggest collector of Montreal Expos memorabilia in the world.
Giannias is the founder of Expos Fest which hosts many former Expos Legends for fans to meet while raising money for cancer research at the Montreal Children's Hospital.
To date Perry and his staff have raised $1.8 Million for cancer reasearch and Vladdy was a part of that too.
In a recent conversation with Perry, he said that there are many Blue Jays fans in Quebec and Ontario who are upset with the fact that Ross Atkins can't get a deal done with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
If Atkins cannot retain Junior a lot of fans would rather support Vladdy on a different team than remain loyal to a Blue Jays team run by this brain trust.
Even though I bleed blue its hard to disagree with the fans that feel this way given how this front office has been operating over the last decade.
The City Connect Uni's are cool, the concrete convertible looks great with all its renovations to make it look and feel more like a ball park, however what good is it all if the product on the field is mediocre at best.
As far as this fan is concerned I will continue to bleed blue no matter what, I mean Atkins and Shapiro wont be around forever right?
As far as Vladdy goes I love the kid, I've always supported him through thick and thin.
What's funny about this finicky fan base at times is when he first came up in 2019, everybody loved him because it was the end of an old era in Toronto and the start of something potentially great.
In 2020 during the pandemic many fans were hard on him, but everybody was just happy to have 60 games of baseball.
In 2021 he was a force to be reckoned with and an MVP runner up to Ohtani so everybody loved him once again.
In 2022' 23 fans he had down seasons (by his standards) and many Blue Jays fans turned on him saying he was out of shape, fat shamed him even though he won a gold glove.
In 2024, he came into camp in the best shape of his playing career, but was slow out of the gate and the hate returned.
Fans who could no longer complain about what shape he was in, started saying that he was just overrated.
That's when the Vladimir Guerrero Jr that most of us know reemerged.
In 159 games he ended up with 30 home runs, 44 doubles, 199 hits, 72 walks, 103 rbi, an OPS of 940 and a 6.2 WAR.
Now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr may he heading out of town, those same fans may not know what they had till he's gone.
This fan will continue to support the Blue Jays but will definitely be watching and cheering for Vladimir Guerrero Jr no matter what team he plays for.
So long as it's not for the Evil Empire.
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