Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has said in the past that he wants to be a member of the Toronto Blue Jays for life. But after the two sides failed to reach an agreement on a contract extension prior to the first baseman’s deadline on Monday, his future with the franchise is uncertain.
Speaking to reporters Tuesday, the 25-year-old Guerrero said he last spoke with the team at 10:30 p.m. ET Monday, and the Blue Jays were not close to offering what he was looking for.
“They had their numbers. I had my numbers,” Guerrero said through interpreter Hector Lebro.
Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said the offers the team made to Guerrero were “record-setting.” When asked to clarify, Atkins said, “Blue Jays records. And would have been one of the highest paid players in the game.”
Guerrero, a four-time All-Star who hit 30 home runs and drove in 103 runs last season, does not plan to negotiate during the season and is currently scheduled to become a free agent in November.
“I’m here. We didn’t get an agreement,” he said. “Now they’re going to have to compete with 29 other teams.”
Guerrero is entering his seventh season with the Blue Jays. He has a career .288 batting average. He hit at least 30 home runs in three of the past four seasons and drove in at least 90 runs in each season since 2021. After Toronto pursued big-name free agents such as Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto, Roki Sasaki and Pete Alonso only to fall short, losing a franchise piece such as Guerrero — and potentially shortstop Bo Bichette after the 2025 season — would be a crushing blow.
Guerrero reiterated Tuesday that he wants to remain in Toronto, saying, “I will do anything, everything I can to stay here because I want to be here.” But winning is also important to the two-time All-MLB first-teamer. While the Blue Jays have made the playoffs three times since Guerrero entered the big leagues, they’ve yet to win a postseason game, losing all three wild-card series via 2-0 sweeps.
Success is what Guerrero wants to achieve in Toronto, but should he become available to the rest of MLB, he’ll likely have numerous options to pursue a championship.
“Winning team,” Guerrero said. “That’s what I’ll be looking for in free agency. As you guys know, my dad played a lot…