Article: BREAKING: Vladimir Guerrero Agrees to 14-Year Extension With Blue Jays

[Mike LeSage]

After a saga that has lasted months, the Blue Jays get their man and Guerrero gets very, very paid.

It wasn't always pretty. The debate about whether the Blue Jays would extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. — about whether they should extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr., about what would constitute a fair deal for both sides, about whether the counteroffers and strategic leaks would poison the negotiations — has served as the backdrop for every piece of news about the team for months now. This extension was the talk of the offseason, spring training, and Opening Day. There were rumours, sources, and speculation, but now we have confirmation. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will be a Blue Jay for life. On Sunday night, just after midnight, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet announced that Guerrero and the Blue Jays were in agreement on a 14-year deal for $500 million, none of it deferred.

After all that buildup and a series of cryptic rumors that the two sides were getting closer, perhaps it was fate that the eye-opening news would go down right when no one was expecting it, just after Toronto went to sleep. Sunday evening on ESPN Countdown, Jeff Passan said that Guerrero and the Blue Jays were hoping to have the extension finalized “at some point this week.” Just hours later, Davidi delivered the news of the agreement, which is not yet official, pending a physical.

As befits a moment this monumental, Matthew Trueblood has already jumped in with analysis about the deal. Fourteen years and $500 million dollars is a lot no matter how you break it down, but without any deferred money to drag down the present value, it trails only Juan Soto's 15-year, $765-million deal with the Mets as the largest contract in the history of baseball. It breaks down to an average annual value of $35.7 million, a huge amount for any player, but especially for a first baseman.

This confirmation won't bring silence, however. If anything, it raises more questions than it answers, but we’ll save those for the coming days. The Blue Jays got their guy, and they've now made sure that they'll be holding onto him from age 16 to age 40. It’s a good time to go out and get that Guerrero jersey you’ve been hesitant to buy!

Guerrero has been the face of the franchise for years now, and this extension gives him the potential to cement his name above Luis Leal's as the all-time career Jay. The alternative is that he becomes the Vernon Wells to a new generation of Blue Jays fans. Guerrero's deal will pay him like his seasons of putting up at least 6.0 bWAR (2021 and 2024) will be the norm, not the exception, from here on out.

Early in March, Mark Shapiro told Keegan Matheson about his optimism that an extension would happen and about the desire for Guerrero to be a “legacy player” in Toronto. This deal will bring momentary relief to the Jays front office, but one player and $500 million does not make a championship team. Everyone around baseball will take note of this contract, none moreso Daulton Varsho and Bo Bichette, who are overdue for their moments in the rough glare of the extension conversation spotlight. Again, we’ll be covering all the permutations in the coming days. For now, before they worry about the financial ramifications, the rest of the roster, and the 14 years of wondering whether Guerrero can possibly live up to the terms of such a mammoth deal, Blue Jays fans can just breathe a sigh of relief that the team's biggest star isn't going anywhere. Plakata, indeed.

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