Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a right-handed hitting first baseman who turns 26 in March.
Six seasons into his MLB career, he’s played 819 games (one of the seasons was Covid shortened). He’s been very durable, playing 161, 160, 156 and 159 games in the four seasons since the shortened season.
Vlad had a 21.5 bWAR at that time.
He’s had two terrific seasons (2021 and 2024) with 6.7 and 6.2 bWARs and three seasons considered disappointments.
I don’t need to write a ‘Better Know’ about him. We know him by now. Whatever he does, it won’t be enough for some people. They will remember a mistake instead of all the good moments. I guess it is a normal thing. I remember people telling me that Jose Bautista was a lousy player, too.
I’m interested in the team’s attempt to sign Pete Alonso. If they do that, Vlad will move to third. I’m not a fan of the idea. It would stretch his defensive abilities and risk losing the durability mentioned above. The way our offense is, losing Vlad for a few games would be a disaster.
There are players you put in a spot and move the other guys around. Vlad should be one of those. I don’t move him for anything if I know I can get 150+ games out of Vlad if he plays first.
But I guess adding another power bat would be a good thing. I would rather they add a third-base-playing power bat than a first-base-playing power bat.
I wish the team would hurry up and sign him. I’m okay with a 12-year or 14-year deal. Just get it done. I think there is value in keeping him as ‘the face of the organization’ (on top of his value as a player). He can be captain. Rogers can put yet another surcharge on our bills, and it will all work out.
Steamer thinks Vlad will play 150 games, hit 33 home runs, a .297/.375/.529 line and a 4.5 WAR.