Blue Jays Executive: Offer to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Was 'Well Past Rational'

At some point, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays will settle in and play a baseball game that counts.

That hasn't happened yet. And in the meantime, the ongoing saga of contract negotiations between the Jays and their star player has stolen headlines about the team — and its possible future without Guerrero.

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Guerrero hasn't been shy about telling reporters how much he envisions himself making in his first big contract. Most recently, speaking with Yancen Pujols in Spanish, Guerrero said his floor for a new contract would be $500 million, while he feels he'd be able to reach the $700 million mark with an MVP-type season.

Only one player in baseball history, Juan Soto, has signed for $700 million in present-day dollars.

A career .288/.363/.500 hitter, Guerrero is coming off a season in which he hit 30 home runs and drove in 103 while cutting his strikeout rate and appearing in 159 games for Toronto.

The Blue Jays offered Guerrero about $500 million before deferrals, and about $400-450 million after deferrals, according to Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman of the New York Post.

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President and CEO Mark Shapiro threw the latest quotable barb into the fray in an interview with the Toronto Sun, saying the team overextended itself with its last offer.

"We have gone well past what our rational point of objectivity framing what the contract value is," Shapiro told the Sun. "And that is a recognition of how important he is to our fans."

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Soto's record-setting $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets did not contain any deferred money. Shohei Ohtani's 10-year, $700 million contract signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dec. 2023 contained so much deferred money, its present-day value was calculated at $437,830,563 by the MLB Players Association ($460.8 million by MLB).

Against this backdrop, Guerrero's demands are not modest.

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The Jays entered the offseason highly motivated to not let Guerrero reach free agency when he's able to solicit bids from all 30 teams — a tactic players commonly use to drive up their earning potential. By signing him to a long-term contract extension, the Jays would have an obvious franchise cornerstone to build around for years to come.

Until the two sides reach an agreement, fans will have to wait for the day when Guerrero's performance on the field does all the talking.

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