The Toronto Blue Jays won't lose superstar slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. after all. Deep into the night on Sunday, April 6, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported that the Blue Jays and Guerrero are in together on a 14-year, $500 million contract extension.
BREAKING: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in agreement with Blue Jays on 14-year, $500M extension, pending physical, sources tell @TheAthletic. Story to come.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 7, 2025
The deal comes after a week of rumors circulating from less notable insiders and sources that Vladdy and Toronto were getting much closer to a deal. This, however, comes as a massive blow to multiple teams, such as the Boston Red Sox and New York Mets, that were hoping to have a chance at Guerrero in free agency next offseason.
For Toronto, though, this is beyond just keeping a star. It locks in security for their roster with a star for years to come, which might be enough to change their, to this point, largely fruitless aggressive free agency pursuits.
It's a win, but just how big of a win is it for the Blue Jays
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. contract grade: Jays finally win big
Yes, I understand that $500 million is a lot of money. It might be graded differently if another team was giving Guerrero that number this offseason in free agency. But the circumstances matter and the situation the Blue Jays were in was absolutely dire if they were forced to move on from Vladdy and unable to work out a deal.
Had Guerrero and the Jays not gotten this extension worked out — well past the reported deadline that came just under two months ago — Toronto would've felt like a quite hopeless organization moving forward. Bo Bichette already appears to have a foot out the door and that would leave selling free agents on coming to play with Anthony Santander for three more years, then Alejandro Kirk. No offense to two good players, but that's a much harder sell than playing with Vladdy.
For the Blue Jays in particular, that position would be excruciating. Ross Atkins and the Toronto front office have shown a keen willingness to spend, they've just had a bear of a time trying to get anyone to take their money. There's been aggression that the results simply haven't matched, perhaps because of the uncertain future with Guerrero as well. Without that, it would only get worse in all likelihood. With the deal in place, that aggression could finally start to pay off.
On top of that, let's not lose sight of the caliber of player Toronto is keeping. While it has been inconsistent at the plate at times, Guerrero is coming off a monster 6.2 WAR season in 2024 and has that type of ceiling any time he's healthy and coming to the plate. That's worth investing in regardless of the Blue Jays' situation, but that only made it all the more necessary to get this deal inked.
Now it is. It's as big of a win as I can think of given the caliber of player and the dire need for the Blue Jays to do just about anything to ensure Vladdy never leaves Toronto.