Grade the source: Are Blue Jays closing in on a Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extension?

It is hard to say what the future holds for the Toronto Blue Jays organization. Being in arguably the toughest division in baseball, Ross Atkins has some big decisions to make: improve what he has to win now or focus on the future. 

Toronto has been mentioned as potential landing spots for superstars like Alex Bregman and Nolan Arenado. Acquiring either one of these two players could be enough to make them playoff contenders in 2025, setting up a potential contract extension for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. MLB Insider Hector Gomez believes this is the route the Blue Jays will take but we can’t help but wonder why it hasn’t happened yet. 

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Are the Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. actually close to an extension? 

Spring Training is now less than a month away and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is entering the final year of his contract with the Jays. To avoid arbitration, Toronto had to agree to pay Guerrero $28.5 million in 2025. While this seems like a lot of money, Guerrero is coming off his best offensive season (.323 30 HR, 103 RBIs). 

For a while now, Gomez has been claiming that the Blue Jays and Guerrero will eventually agree on a contract extension and he continues to stand by that regardless of the rumors that Vladdy may test free agency no matter how big Toronto’s offer is. 

Now that the Blue Jays missed out on Pete Alonso, a contract extension for Guerrero seems more likely but is still not a guarantee. With Alonso officially off the market, if Toronto is going to extend Guerrero we can expect it to be soon. However, we can’t help but be a little skeptical about the reports from Gomez since he has claimed this status for weeks at this point. 

Grade the source: C