Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr have finally struck terms on a massive deal to keep the talented first baseman with the team for the rest of his career.
Reports in the early hours of Monday say the two parties are in agreement on an astonishing 14-year contract worth $500million, pending a physical – and crucially, according to ESPN, none of it is deferred.
The deal will start in 2026, according to The Associated Press, after the Montreal native agreed in January to a $28.5 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration
It’s one of the largest deals in baseball history, behind only Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765million New York Mets agreement and Shohei Ohtani’s $700million Los Angeles Dodgers contract, which has vast sums of money owed in deferred payments.
Guerrero Jr, 26, hit 30 home runs for the Blue Jays last season but is yet to get his first so far in 2025. The news of his contract emerges after his team were swept by Soto and the Mets in a three-game series in New York.
But despite the slow start, it’s a huge statement of intent from a team who were simply not prepared to let their prized asset hit the open market at the end of the year.
Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr have finally struck a deal for him to stay
Guerrero Jr, 26, has agreed a 14-year deal with the Blue Jays worth $500million
Speaking in February, Guerrero voiced his displeasure at how contract talks with the Blue Jays were going and put all of Major League Baseball on red alert by underlining his intentions to go into free agency at the end of 2025.
‘They had their numbers; I had my numbers,’ Guerrero said at the start of spring training. ‘We did not get an agreement.
‘This is business, like I always say. Things happen. The last couple of days, the front office, my lawyers, my agents met. Both parties tried but obviously we couldn’t get an agreement.’
But even then, he insisted he wanted to sign a deal to stay in Toronto for his entire career and finally, he has got his wish.
‘To be honest with you guys, I won’t close the door if it’s a realistic offer,’ he said. And the Blue Jays front office have finally decided to pay up.
The Blue Jays are 5-5 after a tough weekend in the Big Apple against the Mets, one win back from the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in the American League East.
The Blue Jays start a four-game series against their divisional rivals the Red Sox in Boston on Monday night.
Guerrero, the son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, is already a four-time All-Star but has made no secret of how much he pines for World Series victory.
Guerrero Jr would have been the biggest free agent on the market if he didn’t sign a new deal
On the same day in February when he revealed his standoff with the Blue Jays, Guerrero said: ‘As you guys know, my dad played a lot of years. He never won a World Series.
‘My personal goal is to win a World Series and give the ring to my dad.’
If that day comes, it will be in Canada with the Blue Jays – whose two World Series titles came in 1992 and 1993.