Spectacular 2024 season adds to Guerrero’s awards collection and increases his sky high value
When the Blue Jays decided to take Vlad Guerrero Jr. to arbitration a year ago, the intent was at least partially to prove that the team’s star first baseman didn’t deserve the money he was asking for.
Good luck if they try that again prior to the 2025 season.
Guerrero’s body of work for future riches grew on Thursday when he was named an All-MLB First Team all star, hailing him as big-league baseball’s top performer at first base.
It was the second such honour for the 25-year-old, who first captured the award following his spectacular 2021 season. The All-MLB all star nod pairs nicely with the American League Silver Slugger Award the Jays best hitter collected on Tuesday.
The awards are well-deserved for Guerrero, who stood out among a weak and underachieving Blue Jays team in 2024, a bright light among a last-place outfit.
The honours landed after a sensational season that started in the doldrums and ended with him once again being one of the most feared hitters in baseball.
A tepid start in April soon gave way to form reminiscent of his massive breakthrough campaign of 2021. As the team further drifted downward, Guerrero continued to rake, even with little power in the lineup around him. He ended 2024 with a batting average of .323 and 30 home runs while adding 199 hits.
Now comes the fun part for Guerrero and the challenging part for his employers, who are sending out all the signals that they tend to continue with their big-spending ways of owner Rogers Communications’ cash.
With one more year before he’s eligible to become a free agent, the urgency to get an extension done prior to next season continues to grow. And given that he’s arbitration eligible once again this winter, can the team really afford to let that process reach the hearing stage for a second consecutive season?
With so much of the franchise’s immediate future hanging on his big bat — just as it was projected to be when he was rising through the Jays system — the coming months will clearly define where Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins is headed with the team.
Is Guerrero the superstar to build around for the next generation of the Jays and given his prowess and popularity around baseball, a valuable attraction to other free agents? Or is the team willing to move on and essentially start yet another rebuild?
Both sides have had little to say about long-term deals. Guerrero has publicly stated that he loves Toronto and that he would like to return. The front office has said next to nothing, no doubt a negotiating tactic. If he gets to free agency, Guerrero would be one of the most in demand players of next year’s free agent class.
Of course, there will be nothing easy about getting a multi-year deal done with Guerrero now that the team has allowed things to get this far. As one of the most dynamic young hitters in the game, he projects to be one of the most sought after free agents a year from now, should it get that far.
In the meantime, Guerrero and his representation are no doubt waiting to see what happens with the prized free agent from this year’s crop, Juan Soto. Multiple reports suggest he’s likely to land a multi-year deal for more than US$600 million, which would set the market for Guerrero.
And should he decide to bet on himself, another year in the stratosphere (or better) than the one he just completed, would launch the popular Jays star somewhere into that pay class.
As for arbitration, the Jays would obviously be wise to avoid last year’s situation, if for no other reason than to placate Guerrero and his camp. The two sides went to arbitration in February but Guerrero won his case for a record $19.9 million after the team had filed for $18.05 million. Notably, Guerrero attended his hearing in person to digest first hand what the team had to say about him.
“If I don’t go, I lose,” Guerrero said of his attendance when he reported to spring training later in February.
As free agency nears, it will be interesting to see if the team employs the same strategy this time around. According to projections by MLB Trade Rumours, Guerrero figures to have the highest pay of any arbitration-eligible players at $29.6 million.
As wild as it sounds, that could be a fraction of what he makes in the future, wherever that may be.