Vladimir Guerrero jr.’s deadline for the Blue Jays to negotiate an extension passed last night without the sides reaching an agreement. In fact, according to the man himself, they weren’t even close. Vlad reiterated that he wants to remain a Blue Jay and that he’d be happy to return in free agency, while noting that they’d now have to compete with 29 other franchises. He also said that while he won’t continue negotiating, he wouldn’t close the door to a “realistic” offer, which I would read as meaning if the Jays just match his final request. I, personally, look forward to the press conference in December explaining how we were disciplined in our valuations and that’s why we’re proud to have submitted the second best offer.
Ross Atkins, for his part, is handling this is as well as he usually does. On the question of whether they were close, he borrowed Bill Clinton’s “it depends what the definition of ‘is’ is” play, which is always a good look and makes you seem honest, so well done Ross. He then claimed that the offer they made was “record setting”, before having to clarify that he means a Blue Jays record. Which, sure, I do believe they offered him more than they offered George Springer. I might go down to the Ferrari dealership this afternoon and make them a personal “record setting offer” that’s significantly more than I paid for my Mazda 3. I’m sure they’ll be impressed. It’s genuinely amazing to me that in year nine of handling press scrums he hasn’t even approached competence. Though in fairness there were no good answers available to him this morning.
This feels like an inflection point for the franchise. They could of course re-sign him next winter, but if they weren’t willing to pay now it’s hard to imagine a sudden willingness to cut an even larger cheque in ten or eleven months. Which means that by far the most likely scenario is that the Vlad and Bo era of the Blue Jays ends in September with three wildcards and no playoff wins to show for it. Mark Shapiro’s deal also ends this fall, while Atkins has one more year. It’s very hard to imagine either surviving in the job at this point, though, unless the 2025 season is an unexpected triumph. We’re probably headed towards a total reset, under new management and with a need to find new star players. With a thin farm and an aging roster, that portends years in the wilderness. Keeping Vlad would not singlehandedly fix every challenge facing the franchise, of course, but it would ensure a long term identity and a star in his prime to build around. Instead tue future looks much murkier.
We still have this season to look forward to, at any rate. Vlad is still here, for now, and if he’s the player he was in the final five months of last season he really could power them into the playoffs. And at some point we’ll get the satisfaction of seeing Atkins ejected from the organization, preferably out of an upper floor window and at great speed. So there’s that to look forward to.