Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s Contract Status (Update: Blue Jays sign Vlad to 14-year, $500 million deal)

SharoneWright · Post #61 » by **SharoneWright** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 5:28 am

So. He got every penny.

Brinbe · Post #62 » by **Brinbe** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 5:28 am

Imagine crying this much about 35 AAV lol. That's nothing considering the revenue Vlad brings in as the star and main draw of the team. Bunch of absolute losers. :lol:

Raps in 4 · Post #63 » by **Raps in 4** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 5:31 am

All it took was another **** start to a season for him to sign.

SharoneWright · Post #64 » by **SharoneWright** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 5:33 am

Brinbe wrote:Imagine crying this much about 35 AAV lol. That's nothing considering the revenue Vlad brings in as the star and main draw of the team. Bunch of absolute losers.

No doubt. Kids in the Dominican are already lining up for their backwards Blue Jays caps!

Kingsway_fan · Post #65 » by **Kingsway_fan** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 5:51 am

The biggest overpay in the MLB. Book it.

Randle McMurphy · Post #66 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 6:27 am

Brinbe wrote:Imagine crying this much about 35 AAV lol. That's nothing considering the revenue Vlad brings in as the star and main draw of the team. Bunch of absolute losers.

Maybe get a star/main draw who is actually good instead? They just paid a career 17 WAR player over 6 seasons 500 million dollars.

It’s the dumbest contract given out by any MLB team in the history of the sport and it reeks of pure desperation.

Post #67 » by **Harry Palmer** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 6:45 am

This might well be the worst outcome, but there were absolutely no good options so long as this FO are as untouchable as they appear to be. I guess now we hope the security lets him unpack his swing and get back to the insane plate coverage with plus power he demonstrated as a kid. I mean, what else can we do?

Randle McMurphy · Post #68 » by **Randle McMurphy** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 6:53 am

Harry Palmer wrote:This might well be the worst outcome, but there were absolutely no good options so long as this FO are as untouchable as they appear to be. I guess now we hope the security lets him unpack his swing and get back to the insane plate coverage with plus power he demonstrated as a kid. I mean, what else can we do?

I mean, if he can hit like he did in 2024 going forward for the first half of this deal (the second half of it is practically guaranteed to be a complete disaster), he’ll end up as the best Blue Jay ever offensively. But is there any good reason at all to think he will do that with his track record? I’m not seeing it. He’s never consistently been that elite hitter.

Whether this FO stays or not (and I’m assuming based on this that Ed is keeping them), the better option at this point was playing the season out and trading him at the deadline. They’d still have every chance to give him 500M as a FA if they truly wanted him that bad. Who else but the Jays is ever giving him this deal?

Post #69 » by **spykelee** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 8:15 am

He's making what, 28 million via Arb this year? I don't think 35 per is crazy for the next 6 or so seasons. The 7-8 seasons after that are gonna look real ugly though.

Post #70 » by **Harry Palmer** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 8:29 am

Randle McMurphy wrote:
Harry Palmer wrote:This might well be the worst outcome, but there were absolutely no good options so long as this FO are as untouchable as they appear to be. I guess now we hope the security lets him unpack his swing and get back to the insane plate coverage with plus power he demonstrated as a kid. I mean, what else can we do?

I mean, if he can hit like he did in 2024 going forward for the first half of this deal (the second half of it is practically guaranteed to be a complete disaster), he’ll end up as the best Blue Jay ever offensively. But is there any good reason at all to think he will do that with his track record? I’m not seeing it. He’s never consistently been that elite hitter.

Whether this FO stays or not (and I’m assuming based on this that Ed is keeping them), the better option at this point was playing the season out and trading him at the deadline. They’d still have every chance to give him 500M as a FA if they truly wanted him that bad. Who else but the Jays is ever giving him this deal?

Sorry, it was probably vanity that made me suppose that my lack of groundless optimism had been sufficiently demonstrated to establish that if I am saying we must put our faith in mindless hope, that was me trying to highlight how utterly devoid of alternatives I find in the offering. And I mean, the deal is done, as you imo correctly suppose, that further demonstrates that this FO is on solid ground with ownership, so we literally have no choice but to hope for some kind of cinematic montage of recommitment and rebirth.

I guess it could happen, which is better than the nothings we can otherwise expect. Maybe as we speak Vlad is running in slow motion across a beach with a reanimated Carl Weathers shouting inane encouragement alongside and some annoyingly sentimental rock song is bringing out a glint in his eye that can only mean he’s gone back to his street-tough impoverished (sic) roots to rebuild.

Post #71 » by **Duffman100** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 10:51 am

I hope for my fantasy team and the Jays that he actually starts hitting.

Post #72 » by **Double Helix** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 12:16 pm

My totally unsubstantiated guess is that as he was dying in a hospital bed Ted Rogers made his kids promise to look after the Blue Jays and his then favorite player, Vladdy. They told him they would.

Realizing they hadn’t done the first, one of the kids reminded them what dad said so they did the latter. And now they’re done and we will go back to operating like a medium market team rather than a big market team. :lol:

Boogie! · Post #73 » by **Boogie!** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 12:37 pm

Oh no. Well it’s official… the timing sort of sucks though considering how ass hes been to start the season

WuTang_OG · Post #74 » by **WuTang_OG** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 1:23 pm

Yikes

Post #75 » by **Duffman100** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 1:29 pm

Boogie! wrote:Oh no. Well it’s official… the timing sort of sucks though considering how ass hes been to start the season

Didn't he start like ass last year too?

Yeah he hit 219 in April with just 2 homers.

canz55 · Post #76 » by **canz55** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 1:32 pm

So somebody explain to me: if you don't pay Vlad what's the alternative? Let him walk in free agency and use the money to build a young Orioles dynasty 2.0?

If it's that easy why hasn't 20+ other major league teams done the same? (Including us)

Parataxis · Post #77 » by **Parataxis** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 1:41 pm

This is probably going to be a nightmare on the back half, but at least this means we won't need to listen to constant media stories about Vlad's contract situation for at least the next four or five years, I guess?

bluerap23 · Post #78 » by **bluerap23** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 1:56 pm

dumbassess should have extended him a year ago. waiting easily cost them well over 100 M

milestones:
at signing, third most lucrative contract in history
highest average annual value for a first baseman
highest average annual value for player with less than 6 years of Major League service time
full no-trade protection

dagger · Post #79 » by **dagger** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 2:06 pm

Brinbe wrote:Imagine crying this much about 35 AAV lol. That's nothing considering the revenue Vlad brings in as the star and main draw of the team. Bunch of absolute losers.

I concede that he is a revenue generator, and could be more so if he worked on his English a bit. I am going to take an unpopular take, we definitely can't afford Bo, and as soon as this team is locked into another treadmill season we ought to trade him. Unlike Vlad - there is no power first baseman in the minors, not yet anyway - Bo can be replaced by Gimenez who is a better defender and can provide adequate offence. Arjun Nimmala is ascending in the system, and promises to be the next impact power bat, possibly reaching the majors by 2027. In the interim, trade Bo for at least one high end prospect, and next winter that money to address other needs. We have the eighth pick in the next MLB draft, and fifth pick in subsequent rounds.

I am comforted that the starting pitching in the minors might start to look rather strong as the TJ surgery guys (Marauds, Barriera, Tiedemann, Manoah) start returning. The Jays could boast a half dozen strong rotation candidates very soon.

This team already looks like another 75-80 win treadmiller, but Springer's revival, if he sustains it enough might also make him a trade candidate, creating a financial pool for the winter (no Bo, Springer, Bassitt) that would allow the team to explore the market for a stronger 3B or RF. (I think Santander will be nearly full time DH, and Alan Roden is going to evolve into the every day LF and leadoff hitter.)

rarefind · Post #80 » by **rarefind** » Mon Apr 7, 2025 2:07 pm

Is it reasonable to assume that Vlad would post a decent enough season to get this on the open market? $35M AAV isn't as crazy as some of you are making it seem. I agree, years 9-14 (hopefully not sooner) have the potential of being rough but that is just the cost of doing business.

What we have demonstrated over a number of years is that we cannot sign superstar free agents. Suggesting this money would be better spent on the open market is not a practical approach for this organization at all. The Jays couldn't lose Vlad, period. The casual fan (who actually are the ones paying for the product) would stop showing up and watching. Selling hope of Vlad/Santander et al is better than being the worst team in baseball for the next several years. Our FO backed themselves into a box and here we are now. This was a likely outcome and we should've just bit the bullet a couple of years ago finding discounts in buying out his arb years.

I will also say that next year's free agent class is weak. It wouldn't be inconceivable for a darkhorse team to offer this exact deal to Vlad. A lot of teams can shoulder $35M AAV (even on a term several years longer than advisable).