The Good, the Vlad and the Ugly
The Guerrero story that won't go away as extension demands emerge
How much did the two biggest free agent contracts signed before him have an effect on the Blue Jays and their negotiations with Vlad Guerrero Jr? It’s become apparent that the Dodgers signing of Shohei Ohtani in 2024 and the Mets signing of Juan Soto earlier this off-season both dramatically have jacked the price of doing business with Vlad. Should the Jays, in fact, have had this extension wrapped up two years ago? Has the modern creative accounting procedure for baseball contracts, to reduce potential luxury-tax penalties, with deferrals now affecting “current value” made the Vlad signing more difficult? Is Vlad being unrealistic in his self-evaluation? Will anyone meet his demands after this ‘25 season, or will the Jays be back in the mix?
In addition, how does the record managerial contract awarded to the Dodgers’ Dave Roberts affect others, including Jays’ skipper John Schneider? Strength up the middle has forever been a necessity in order to have a winner in MLB. Griff and Mal rank the AL Top 5 with regard to strength up the middle of the diamond. The Jays have had a relatively healthy spring but with the injury carnage among other AL East teams, should the team’s fans be more optimistic for a return to contention? All this and more.