Vlad needs a supporting cast. He is not an aircraft carrier. He has a hard time when it is all on him.
I said it years ago and will say it again. You only give half a billion dollars US, or a billion CDN $ to someone with proven individual leadership and the ability to perform when all is on their shoulders.
Don’t tell me about the playoffs. There were like 4 others Jays with over 800 OPS and another with over 1000 OPS. The whole Team was fire and no individual pressure on Vlad.
Same goes for his best prior offensive years. They were all concurrent with other teammates also carrying the load or leading the way. No individual pressure on Vlad.
The situational awareness with HR jacket when losing big and questionable Gatorade baths, not making adjustments after weeks of failure, defensive footwork mistakes still making years after being a rookie, the while coming to camp overweight.
Again, I would have had a very hard time making a business case for half a billion dollars for Vlad. You have to assume in retrospect Ed Rogers might have told them to get it done for PR purposes more than baseball acumen.