David Ortiz may have just let slip jaw-dropping Vladimir Guerrero Jr. asking price

More than 24 hours later, the baseball world is still taking the Toronto Blue Jays to task for their failure to reach an agreement with star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a long-term contract extension. And for good reason: Amid a disappointing offseason — heck, a disappointing last two or three years — Guerrero Jr. was the lone bright spot, a homegrown superstar who comes from Canadian baseball royalty, and Toronto chose to let him walk in free agency next winter rather than pay up to make him a Blue Jay for life.

But for as inexplicable as the team's decision seems on the surface, maybe we should at least try to play devil's advocate. We don't actually know how far apart Vladdy and the Jays were at the end; president Mark Shapiro gave a cryptic "there’s no such thing as close or not close" when asked about Toronto's final offer, while Guerrero Jr. would offer only "they have their numbers; I have my numbers."

It remains unclear exactly what Guerrero Jr.'s number is. But we may have just gotten a hint thanks to a very famous family friend, and it should cast Toronto's stance here in a different light.

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David Ortiz's recommended Vladimir Guerrero Jr. contract is suspiciously specific

Baseball Hall of Famer David Ortiz has been close with the Guerrero family for years now, going back to his playing days with Vladimir Sr. The two are legends of Dominican baseball, and Ortiz has taken on an important role in Vlad Jr.'s life as he's blossomed into a Major League star of his own.

All of which is to say that, if anyone were in a position to know what Guerrero Jr.'s camp was hoping for in a new contract, it's Ortiz, both as a friend and confidante and as someone who's been around a free agency negotiation or two during his time. That makes what the former Boston Red Sox slugger had to say on Tuesday very, very interesting.

In an interview with Z101 Digital in the Dominican Republic, Ortiz predictably took the Jays to task for not paying up for Guerrero Jr. He also offered, unprompted, a suggestion as to his next contract.

"He deserves a 13-year, $585 million contract," Ortiz said. "Vladdy Jr. is an elite offensive player, he's young and with Gold Glove-caliber defense."

Setting aside the claim about his defense (Vladdy has gotten better at first base over the years, but he's hardly exceptional), that is ... an oddly specific number to throw out there. Either Ortiz just had that off the top of his head after spending the winter crunching some spreadsheets, or he has a some inside information as to just what Guerrero Jr. thinks he's worth.

And if it's the latter, it would at least go some way toward explaining why the Jays were never able to close the gap here (or come particularly close). Guerrero Jr. has the right to demand whatever he wants, of course; he's one of the best pure hitters in the sport already, and he's still just entering his prime. But that is a ton of money, $45 million per year, to give to a guy who is already a negative both in the field and on the bases and only figures to become more so with age. It's also worth noting that Guerrero Jr. doesn't have quite the track record of consistency or the ceiling of someone like, say, Juan Soto.

Granted, $585 million is still significantly below what Soto got on the open market. But at that number, even accounting for future inflation, Guerrero Jr. would have very little margin for error to make good on his new deal. You can argue that it shouldn't matter, that his value to Toronto on and off the field goes far beyond his box score numbers and that the team already showed it was willing to go above and beyond its pursuits of Soto and Shohei Ohtani. But it sure does seem like Guerrero Jr.'s bidding could go above and beyond even the rosiest projections next winter.