This is ultimately done.
After years of questions and several intense months in terms of negotiations, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. saw the Blue Jays offer him $ 500 million over 14 years, just over $ 35 million per year up to his 40th anniversary. And he said yes.
The players sometimes want to have records and that's what Vlady did. He signed the most lucrative contract in history for a first goal player-and even for a pre-champ player in general.
He exceeds Mike Trout ($ 426.5 million) and if we take into account the delayed money, he even exceeds Shohei Ohtani.
What you need to know is that there is no deferred money in the Vlady contract, but that the $ 700 million in Ohtani is 98 %delayed. Result? In value today, Ohtani is $ 437 million.
Vlady is therefore in front of Ohtani in value today … But he is obviously not ahead of Juan Soto, who is $ 765 million. It is the only one that exceeds it.
This same Soto allowed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to seek more money because he has raised the prices in the last months on the sidelines of his big contract with the dishes
Jon Heyman reports that before the 2024 season, the Blue Jays offered $ 300 million to Vlady. Wait a year (with its big year 2024) and see Soto Signer will have raised the prices – even if Vlady does not break anything in 2025. #Petitchanton
Many people in the industry thought that $ 300 million for a first goal player would not happen. And it did not happen … because he signed for a lot more money.
Non-exchange clause, big contract: Vladdy is indeed in town to stay on the terms of a contract that several clubs could never have paid. Will this create even more tensions between the MLB and the association of players?
In any case, it will end all the public outings of Vlady in front of the media to talk about what he wants or what he does not want in a contract. It will be the end of the distractions.
And he won: he had a price and he maintained it. In the meantime, Blue Jays have certainly paid more than not enough. But at least Vlady is in town to stay there and the club will not need to go and see elsewhere (Pete Alonso?) To replace it in a year.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. already said that he had his price and that if he obtained it, he signed tomorrow morning. The price has often reached recently, but the club has recognized the importance of not letting it go.
I imagine that rushing into a vacuum for several big names on the autonomy market for two years (including Soto and Ohtani) made the Jays understand that to surround Anthony Santander, Andres Gimenez, Alejandro Kirk and company, it was going through the guy already in place.
Kyle Tucker will therefore be the big name on the autonomy market in a year. Freshly exchanged from astros to cubs, expect to see it test the market: I do not see it doing like Vlady has just done. The price has just risen, after all.
We will also see if it will change your idea to Bo Bichette, who seems to want to leave in a year.
Will the Blue Jays regret the contract? How many times the club will make the series in 15 years, including 2025? Will he go to Cooperstown with the Toronto cap? Have Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins saved their jobs?
One thing is certain: the club cannot regret not having signed it. And to prevent it from testing the market in a few months, it really needed a big amount on the table …
