With Vlad signed, all eyes turn to Bo Bichette.
Bo has said all the right things about wanting to win with Vlad. I liked how he talked about how he always wanted to be on one team for life. I don’t always feel that he and Vlad are close, but I get that they must have talked, as they were coming up in the system about what it would be like when they were in the majors. Neither would have doubted they would get there, so it must have been fun to have someone to talk to.
Shi Davidi said that there was no chance Bo would resign without them signing Vlad.
But I wouldn’t be giving Bo a 14-year contract. I don’t know that he will age well. I think guys who age well tend to control the strike zone. And Bo’s ability to hit pitches off the plate depends on his reflexes and hand-eye coordination,
He’ll have to move off short at some point, somewhat lowering his value. I’d want to give it a couple of months to see if last year was just an outlier. Besides last year, he’s been so consistent that it would be easy to peg a value for him, but last year will hang over things.
As much as I’d like to see him be a Blue Jay for the next several years, I wouldn’t be offering him 14 years. I don’t know that I’d offer him 10 years. I think I’d want to sign him for six or seven years, maybe in the $180 million range. But I also think he wouldn’t want to sign for that much less than Vlad.
I get attached to players after I watch them for years, and I’m not finished watching Bo. As a realist, I know it is unlikely to happen. But team has a few big contracts coming off the books. Who knows?
He’s having a decent start to the season, .277/.333/.362 for a 99 OPS+. He was hitting the ball hard yesterday, which was nice to see.
Jeff Blair wrote about the contract: Don’t worry about Guerrero Jr.’s contract. Be happy he chose to stay.
I don’t know how the next 14 years of Toronto Blue Jays history will shake out, let alone what Vladimir Guerrero, Jr. will look like in his late 30s, but that’s OK.
The real-world news of the day offers no guarantee we won’t be living by then in a dystopian hellscape. In the very least, the news that Guerrero and the Blue Jays have agreed to a 14-year, $500-million contract extension (pending a physical examination) is a welcomed departure from the unwelcomed departures that usually occur in this city.