Blue Jays Pursuing Contract Extension with Homegrown Star: Report

Getty Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

With Vladimir Guerrero Jr. staying put with the Toronto Blue Jays at the 2024 MLB trade deadline, the team can move forward with him as the centerpiece of their plans.

The next task will be to sign him to an extension, and that’s exactly what the team is trying to do, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

“The Blue Jays are again expected to try to lock up superstar first baseman/third baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. this winter,” Heyman wrote in a story published September 5. “And though they have a better shot with Guerrero than co-star Bo Bichette, they will need to step up efforts to keep Guerrero, who’s in great shape and back to near MVP level.”

Heyman added that previous attempts to extend Guerrero “never got close” as the superstar’s asking price continued to rise.

Toronto found itself mired in last place in the American League East and 9.0 games out of the American League’s final wild-card spot, through September 5. Guerrero, however, is having his best season since he hit 48 home runs in 2021. He’s hitting a career-best .328 as of September 6 with 28 home runs, a .963 OPS, and 5.7 bWAR.

The Blue Jays Did Not Want to Trade Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at the Deadline

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins told MLB Network Radio in early June that the Blue Jays wanted to extend, not trade, Guerrero and Bichette.

“It doesn’t make any sense for us,” he said at the time. “There will be occasional times when you’re talking to other executives and they’ll ask if you’ll consider, and we just say it’s not something we have spent any time on. Because they’re so talented and such great teammates, they are attractive to other teams, so they will call.”

Both have two more years of team control, but if they hit the open market, other teams can almost certainly outbid them. By locking them up — or even just Guerrero — it would give the Blue Jays a young core to build around. Guerrero is still only 25 and Bichette is 26.

Bleacher Report ranked the Blue Jays’ farm system the worst in baseball at the midway point of this season. That could mean Toronto would be better served trading its young pair to restock the farm as the team punts on a year or two of contention. Conversely, it could make it all the more important to secure the young talent the team already has.

Doing so could put the Blue Jays in position to spend in 2027, when George Springer and Kevin Kiermaier’s contracts come off the books. And in the meantime, a couple of non-playoff seasons would give them the draft picks to begin rebuilding the farm anyway.

A Look at Guerrero’s Contract Value

Guerrero, still in arbitration, is already making $19.9 million, according to Spotrac, so even if he does not come to an agreement with the Blue Jays, he’s going to have an inflated salary next year.

Heyman points out, however, that the Blue Jays have money left over after offering Shohei Ohtani $700 million in the offseason, only to see him take the same money with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

For what Guerrero might be able to command, Heyman compared him to Rafael Devers of the Red Sox. Boston signed him to a 10-year, $313.5 million deal in 2023. That comes out to an average annual value of $31.5 million and if Guerrero signed the same deal, it would take him through his age 35 season.

With the year Guerrero’s having, Heyman suggested he could aim even higher. He likely won’t be able to hit the level that Aaron Judge did with the Yankees ($40 million AAV), but then again he’s a homegrown star and Jays fans aren’t pleased with the way things are going right now. It might take an overpay to secure Guerrero’s future.