Contract negotiations between the Toronto Blue Jays and first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are apparently ramping up. According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, Toronto made another offer in their negotiations with Guerrero prior to the Jays’ opening day on Thursday.
“The Blue Jays have made another offer in their negotiations with Vladimir Guerrero, per sources; a gap still remains between the two sides.”
The Blue Jays have made another offer in their negotiations with Vladimir Guerrero, per sources; a gap still remains between the two sides.
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) March 27, 2025
According to the MLB, Guerrero is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2025 season. He initially set a Feb. 18 deadline for extension talks with the Jays, but no deal was reached by that day.
“They expressed what they had. I expressed what I had. I’m here, and we didn’t get an agreement. Now, they’re going to have to compete with 29 more teams,” Guerrero said at the time.
Even before the latest offer was made, the Jays remained hopeful that talks would move forward.
“I think we’re going to sign him. I think we’re going to extend him,” Jays president and CEO Mark Shapiro said last week Thursday, adding that Guerrero wants to play his whole career as a Toronto Blue Jay. “We want him to end his career in a Blue Jays uniform and be a true legacy player for the Toronto Blue Jays. That’s a pretty good place to start.”
We don’t know what was proposed in the latest offer, but earlier this month, Guerrero admitted that the contract extension proposal his representatives presented to the Jays in February was much lower than Juan Soto’s deal with the New York Mets (Soto signed a 15-year contract with the Mets in December worth USD 765 million — the largest in MLB history).
“It’s much less than Soto. We’re talking about many fewer millions than Soto, more than a hundred million less,” Guerrero said in a Spanish-language interview with ESPN’s Enrique Rojas and Ernesto Jerez in early March. “The last number we gave them as a counteroffer didn’t reach 600.”
He added that his side had “lowered the salary demands a bit” but also lowered the duration of the contract.
“I’m looking for 14 [years]. I would like 14, 15, even 20 if they give them to me, but doing it the right way.”
According to The Athletic, the star is seeking a contract worth $500 million in present value. Prior to Guerrero’s Feb. 18 deadline, the Jays reportedly offered Guerrero about $500 million, but with deferrals that would have reduced the present value to between $400 million and $450 million.
Since he made his MLB debut in 2019, the 26-year-old has had impressive statistics, including a .288 batting average, 905 hits, and 160 home runs over six seasons.
Unfortunately, the Jays lost 12-2 to the Baltimore Orioles in their opening game on Thursday (this, despite all the cool snacks chefs at the Rogers Centre have been cooking up).
Although the Jays finished the 2024 season in last place in the American League East, they had previously won their last five season openers, so this loss was a major blow.
Guerrero was part of the team’s starting lineup, along with Bo Bichette and Anthony Santander, but it was second baseman Andres Gimenez who stood out — it was his first game with the Jays, and he hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
