The Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have agreed to a $28.5M wage to keep away from an arbitration listening to, studies Shi Davidi of Sportsnet. This doesn’t forestall the edges from discussing a long-term deal upfront of Guerrero’s closing 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 moderately than the group’s submitting determine of $18.05M. They received’t undergo that course of this time round. Guerrero agrees to an $8.6M increase for what’ll be his final journey by way of the method. That’s a hair beneath the $29.6M projection from MLBTR contributor Matt Swartz.
He’ll nonetheless 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 will probably be Guerrero’s closing contract with the Blue Jays. The four-time All-Star stated 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 At present’s Bob Nightengale has urged is at or above $450M.
The primary baseman stated he was keen to proceed negotiations till the beginning of spring coaching. He indicated he would check 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.
