The Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have agreed to a $28.5M wage to keep away from an arbitration listening to, reports Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. This doesn’t stop the edges from discussing a long-term deal prematurely of Guerrero’s last yr of membership management.
Guerrero and the Jays went to a listening to final offseason. The star first baseman proved triumphant and secured a $19.9M wage reasonably than the crew’s submitting determine of $18.05M. They gained’t undergo that course of this time round. Guerrero agrees to an $8.6M elevate for what’ll be his final journey by the method. That’s a hair beneath the $29.6M projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
He’ll however be the highest-paid participant on this yr’s arbitration group. Guerrero wasn’t far off becoming a member of Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto as the one gamers to eclipse the $30M mark in arbitration.
The much more intriguing query is whether or not this can be Guerrero’s last contract with the Blue Jays. The four-time All-Star mentioned final month that the Jays had supplied him an extension within the $340M vary. Guerrero indicated that was effectively beneath his asking value, which USA Today’s Bob Nightengale has advised is at or above $450M.
The primary baseman mentioned he was prepared to proceed negotiations till the beginning of spring coaching. He indicated he would take a look at free company subsequent offseason if no deal is in place as soon as exhibition play begins.
Guerrero completed sixth in MVP balloting final season. He raked at a .323/.396/.544 clip with 30 homers and 44 doubles. His numbers weren’t too far off what he’d produced when he was runner-up behind Ohtani in MVP voting in 2021. He’s on monitor to get to free company at age 27, the place he and Kyle Tucker would headline the category.
