Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s Latest Yankees Comments Bad News For Red Sox?
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. isn’t expected to rejoin the Toronto Blue Jays next offseason, opening the door for the Boston Red Sox and all MLB organizations.
Guerrero’s ultimatum for Toronto was a contract extension by spring training, which never came to life. The 25-year-old insinuated the Blue Jays weren’t close in terms of dollar figures amid their negotiations, and Guerrero has no intention to revisit those discussions during the upcoming season. That puts baseball’s 29 other franchises in the running for the four-time All-Star next offseason, and yes that includes the New York Yankees.
“If I go to free agency, every team — all 30 teams — are going to have the opportunity to sit down with (me), to talk to me,” Guerrero told the New York Post’s Jon Heyman. “I’m OK with everything. It’s in the past.”
It’s been six years since Guerrero, the son of baseball Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, debuted with the Blue Jays. Hopes were high on the vicious right-handed slugger and Guerrero, like his father, has lived up to the hype. He’s earned two Silver Slugger Awards, two All-MLB First-Team nods, and led the big leagues with 48 in 2021.
There’s a reason contact extension projections slate Guerrero’s next payday to be in the $500 million range. The only question is which team will get him to sign.
In the past, Guerrero paid the Yankees no mind as a potential landing spot. Guerrero claimed that while he enjoys playing in New York, he prefers to “kill the Yankees” and would “never” join the pinstripes, three years ago. Speculation then placed the Red Sox at the forefront of Guerrero’s preference list — assuming negotiations with the Blue Jays are done for good and 2025 is his final season with the team.
Boston invested heavily in this offseason’s Juan Soto pursuit with the front office undergoing multi-hour-long meetings and sliding a presumed $700 million-plus offer across the negotiation table. And even after failing to sway Soto, the team still managed to add Aroldis Chapman, Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler and Alex Bregman, among others to bolster the roster.
Still, that effort coupled with wherever the Red Sox go this upcoming season, might have no impact on Guerrero’s ultimate decision.
Guerrero, now with a change of heart for the Yankees, retold the origin tale behind his lifelong animosity for the 27-time World Series champions.
“When I was a child with my dad, and like all (players’) kids I was in front of the dugout, and somebody from the Yankees told my dad that ‘You gotta take your kid (inside). You can’t be on the field,” Guerrero said. “I felt bad. And it stood with me.”
Since the Yankees parted ways with Soto, general manager Brian Cashman should be expected to flex New York’s wallets and place a handsome bid when the time comes.