Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Won't Rule out Yankees in FA, Father's Dispute 'In the Past'

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has one more season remaining on his contract and isn't closing the door on joining any of Major League Baseball's 30 teams next offseason.

Including the New York Yankees.

"If I go to free agency, every team—all 30 teams—are going to have the opportunity to sit down with [me], to talk to me," Guerrero said through an interpreter, per Jon Heyman of the New York Post. "I'm OK with everything. It's in the past."

Heyman explained the issues that are "in the past" stem from the American League East team nearly signing Guerrero's father in 2003 before then-team owner George Steinbrenner met with former Yankees player Dwight Gooden and eventually signed Gooden's nephew, Gary Sheffield, instead.

Guerrero being open to signing with the Yankees is quite the change from the past.

As R.J. Anderson of CBS Sports noted, the slugger said this in 2022: "I like to play in New York. I like to kill the Yankees. I would never sign with the Yankees, not even (when I'm) dead."

He also said, "It goes back with my family. That's my decision, and I will never change that."

However, Anderson also explained Guerrero softened his position at last year's trade deadline when he called playing in MLB "a business" and suggested he would be open to playing for New York if it did acquire him.

It makes sense to keep the Yankees as an option from a financial standpoint seeing how they are one of the league's biggest spenders. Even if he didn't ultimately sign with the Toronto Blue Jays' division rivals, they could be used as a negotiating tactic with other potentially interested teams that would want to keep him out of New York.

According to Spotrac, the Yankees have the fourth-highest total payroll in baseball heading into the 2025 season behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets and Philadelphia Phillies.

Whichever team signs Guerrero will have a franchise building block for years to come.

After all, the 25-year-old's resume includes two Silver Sluggers, four All-Star Game selections, a Gold Glove and three seasons with at least 30 home runs, including when he led the league with 48 in 2021.

He is a superstar hitter who would immediately anchor most team's lineups. And pairing him with Aaron Judge in New York would make the Bronx Bombers all that more dangerous as they chase their first World Series title since 2009.