Vladimir Guerrero Jr. better have signed off on Blue Jays-Pete Alonso rumors, or else

The Toronto Blue Jays finally got a win in free agency with the Anthony Santander signing, but job No. 1 for Ross Atkins and Co. this offseason remains signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long-term extension — and keeping him off the free-agent market next winter. The Jays now has just a few weeks before Vladdy's self-imposed deadline of Feb. 18, at which point they can more or less kiss their franchise cornerstone goodbye. And while talks have been ramping up of late, there's still little to suggest that team and player have gotten appreciably closer to a deal.

The best way for Toronto to help close that gap is to convince Guerrero Jr. that he can compete in Toronto long-term. And the best way to do that is to continue adding talent this offseason, wherever the team can find it. The good news is that the Blue Jays appear to have serious interest in the most realistic target left in free agency. The bad news, however, is that said target just so happens to also be a righty-hitting first baseman expecting a major pay day. And while Toronto attempts to thread the needle, it could blow up spectacularly.

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Blue Jays trying to walk a fine line in pairing Pete Alonso with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Just days after the Mets very publicly washed their hands of Pete Alonso (or wanted to make sure everyone thought so, anyway), the Polar Bear's market has picked back up a bit. And to no one's surprise, the Blue Jays appear to be at the front of the line, with SNY's Andy Martino reporting on Thursday that talks between the two sides are "advancing".

Toronto always made sense as a potential Alonso suitor. We know they have the money to spend (and we know they have the motivation to spend it, given how rough this offseason has been and the impending free agencies of both Vlad Jr. and Bo Bichette) and they're in desperate need of more pop in their lineup, even after adding Santander. If Alex Bregman isn't on the table, Alonso is the biggest bat available, and this team needs as many of those as it can get.

Jays fans had just better hope that Atkins and Co. are playing this right. There are ways to make the Alonso-Vladdy pairing work; Toronto can park Alonso as its primary DH, a need they also need to fill, while occasionally allowing him to play first whenever Guerrero Jr. takes a start at third. Alonso would immediately become the best lineup protection Vladdy has had in his career, and if the Polar Bear's market really has dipped to around $75 million or so, that shouldn't have much of an effect on extension talks with Guerrero Jr. — this team was set to pay Juan Soto some $700 million, after all.

All that said: It's also not hard to envision how this might go wrong. Alonso is a good player, but he's also a limited one, and he might not be enough to get the Jays over the hump this season (and convince Guerrero Jr. to stick around for the long haul). And Vladdy also might not take kindly to the team bringing in someone who will, fairly or not, be viewed as his potential replacement if extension talks go south — talks that will be impacted, financially and via negotiating leverage, by Alonso's presence.

Of course, given how central Toronto has made a Guerrero Jr. deal to their long-term vision, it beggars belief that they'd pursue Alonso without running it by their star first. They'd better be very, very sure he's on board, though.