by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Has rejected half a billion dollars* from the Toronto Blue Jays. You can probably guess what that asterisk means on this point.
According to Kenenthal of athletics, Guerrero rejected an extension offer of more than $ 500 million from the Blue Jays, but with sufficiently delayed money to reduce the current value to between $ 400 million and $ 450 million. Guerrero reportedly indicated that he was willing to accept postponement, but only if the contract value was still $ 500 million.
Such a contract would probably have surpassed the total money from Shohei Ohtani’s groundbreaking contract of $ 700 million with the Los Angeles Dodgers, calculated as approximately $ 460 million to the current money of when it was signed.
However, it would have been good for the incredible 15-year-old deal of Juan Soto, $ 765 million, which contains no postponed money and in fact could have a value north of $ 800 million if certain escalators were met.
Guerrero concluded contract interviews with the Blue Jays at the start of spring training, a self -set deadline to end the first Honkman for a season before hitting which is certainly a lucrative free desk. The 25-year-old, who will be 26 on Sunday, said ESPN last week that he negotiated for a contract length similar to the Soto deal, but not for the same money.
“It’s much less than Soto. We are talking about many fewer millions than Soto, more than one hundred million less. … It was the same number of years [as Soto’s contract]But it didn’t reach [$600 million]. The last song we gave them as a contraver did not reach 600, “said Guerrero.
“I know the company. I have reduced the salary requirements a bit, but I also lowered the number of years. … I am looking for 14 [years]. I would like 14, 15, even 20 if they give them to me, but do it in the right way. “
Guerrero is the consensus -top -free agent in the next winter class, together with Chicago Cubs -outfielder Kyle Tucker and San Diego Padres starting pitcher Dylan Stase.
Simply put, Guerrero has not been as consistent as some other mega contract players. Based on OPS+, who normalizes for Park and ERA, four of his six seasons in Toronto have been worse than Sotos’s career-strict figure of 142 in 2018, which was his smoking year. The same with Aaron Judge, who has not gone under 143 since his first season. Mike Trout was considered at the low point of his career because he was at 132 in 2023.
However, Guerrero still has one of the highest attacking ceilings in baseball and will hit a free desk at about the same age as Soto, and nothing is as important as age at free agency.
Substantial money quickly becomes the standard for mega contracts in MLB, with a forerunner in Bobby Bonilla, a pioneer in Max Scherzer and a Perfecter in Ohtani, who brought the idea to be postponed by 97% of the money in his deal. Teams love it because it keeps their CBT wage list low, so that they can avoid luxury tax payments, and players often don’t mind because they still get the money they ask for and are often compensated through a signing bonus.
The Dodgers repeatedly used the system during the low season, but also other teams. That continues until MLB sees a problem with it.
