NO DEAL: Blue Jays' Vlad Guerrero Jr. headed for free agency.

The face-of-the-franchise all-star made that clear on Tuesday morning when he announced that he has cut off negotiations on a multi-year extension with the Blue Jays and is thus on the path towards free agency following the 2025 season.

As inevitable as this result seemed, it's still a stunning blow to a fan base that felt Guerrero would be the centrepiece of a team that would eventually be a World Series contender.
Instead, the turmoil around the last-place Blue Jays has accelerated, both among the fans and those players on the team looking to contend.

While Guerrero won't technically reach free agency until November, he made it clear to Jays management that he would not discuss a contract extension beyond Tuesday's opening day of full squad spring training workouts at the team's Dunedin, Fla. base.

That was the deadline he set following last year's final game.

And when he met reporters in Dunedin on Tuesday morning, the fan-favourite all-star didn't pull any punches at a front office that fell well short of what he was demanding - and in doing so has infuriated a fan base in the process.

More than once Guerrero mentioned that 29 other teams will be under consideration for his services as he moves into the prime years of his career in 2026. And then he delivered a clear shot when asked what he would be looking for in free agency: «A winner.»

Of course, the team he appears to be leaving hasn't won a playoff game since 2016, a clear shot fired at a front office that has already lost a fan base and runs the risk of losing those in the clubhouse, not to mention any other free agents they might pursue.

General manager Ross Atkins told reporters in Dunedin that he wasn't «comfortable» talking about numbers but that the team wasn't close enough, adding that the team will keep the door open for Guerrero should he be willing to discuss an extension further.

That said, he didn't exactly inspire confidence in a resolution when he told reporters that «you have to stay disciplined to the fact that we are running a business.»

Atkins defended the Blue Jays position by saying the money they offered would have been record-setting - later clarifying that it would be the most money ever paid to a Jays player.

That team business became considerably more shaky given that Guerrero and fellow home grown star Bo Bichette are both headed to free agency following the upcoming season.

The list of suitors for Guerrero will be a long one including some prominent teams in playoff contention.

Already the division rival Boston Red Sox have been listed as a frontrunner - and what a kick to the gut that would be to have Blue Jays fans watch Guerrero belt home runs out of Fenway Park.

Guerrero told reporters on Tuesday that money was at the root of the inability to reach an agreement, adding that it's part of the business.

He said his last discussion with the team came around 10:30 p.m. on Monday and when asked if the Blue Jays got close to what he wanted, the answer was a flat «no.»

As for the deadline that he set, Guerrero told reporters that he did primarily because he didn't want to be a distraction to his teammates as spring training and the season unfolds.

And now Guerrero has to put aside the distraction and begin preparing for what could be his final 162 games for the organization that signed him as a 16-year-old in the Dominican Republic.

And it certainly further undermines the work of Atkins and team president Mark Shapiro. The seeming indifference to keeping Guerrero around has been a dominant story since the team took him to arbitration (and lost) a little more than a year ago.

Guerrero said his representatives met with the front office over the past couple of days but that the talks «never got to the point» where he wanted to do a deal. The 25-year-old said that Juan Soto's mega $765 million US deal with the New York Mets had nothing to do with his decision and that he had his own valuation of his worth.

He added his love for playing in Toronto and that he always felt that he would be a Blue Jay for life.

From his teenage years, to his rapid rise through the Blue Jays farm system, to his mammoth 48-homer season in 2021, that was always the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. script.

Now it has turned into a saga, as shocking as it is.

SOURCE:
Hazel Mae Rob Longley