Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Blue Jays Reportedly Agree to 14-Year, $500M Contract

After multiple years of trade rumors, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays have reportedly reached an agreement on a new contract.

Per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, the four-time All-Star agreed to a 14-year, $500 million contract with the Blue Jays. Rosenthal noted the deal includes no deferrals.

The Blue Jays bought themselves time to sign Guerrero to a long-term deal in January when the two sides avoided arbitration when he agreed to a $28.5 million salary in 2025. It's the third-highest salary ever paid to an arbitration-eligible player, trailing only Juan Soto last year and Shohei Ohtani in 2023.

Guerrero has been a popular name in trade rumors for some time, but the Blue Jays never showed any strong interest in dealing their franchise player.

One reason it would have made some sense to deal Guerrero now is the Blue Jays don't seem poised to challenge for a playoff spot in the AL coming off a 74-88 record in 2024. They tried to bring in Soto to boost their lineup, but his decision to join the New York Mets left them without any obvious solution to close the gap within their own division.

Instead, the Blue Jays decided to leave no doubt they are going to make Guerrero the key piece of their franchise going forward.

Guerrero wasn't among the problems in Toronto last year. He hit .323/.396/.544 with 30 homers and 103 RBI in 159 games to finish sixth in AL MVP voting.

As the son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, the 26-year-old had a tremendous amount of hype around him from the time he signed with the Blue Jays as an international free agent in July 2015.

The hype only increased when Guerrero tore through the minors and was ranked as the best prospect in MLB going into the 2019 season. After a modest start in the big leagues, he broke out in 2021 with an AL-best 48 homers, .401 on-base percentage and .611 slugging percentage to finish second in MVP voting to Shohei Ohtani.

Guerrero's performance dipped for a couple of years after that breakout campaign, but 2024 proved he's still more than capable of being a difference-making hitter for any team in MLB.

Given his current performance and next year being his final season of arbitration before becoming a free agent, it's not a total surprise to see the Blue Jays decide to move on from Guerrero.

Even with some limitations to his game, primarily with the glove, Guerrero brings a lot to the Blue Jays' lineup. He has hit at least 26 homers in each of the past four seasons. His 136 long balls during that span is tied for seventh among all players.

Guerrero's age also offers plenty of hope that he can continue playing at an MVP level for years to come in Toronto.