The deadline that baseball player Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave his team, the Toronto Blue Jays, to negotiate a contract extension has already expired and he decided to show up for spring training, while the Canadian team’s management is suffering harsh criticism for its reluctance to open the wallet to retain its star and waste the time they had available to negotiate with him
Now, Vladi will play and it is possible that he will leave Toronto at the end of the season as a free agent, as the player informed that he will focus on preparing for the season, after a complicated 2024, where they finished at the bottom of the American League East.
“There was an exchange (of salary figures). Even on the last day they were meeting here (the team and their representatives),” Vladi told ESPN
“They couldn’t get to the numbers and, as I’ve always said, because they couldn’t get to the numbers, I’m not going to change the way I work. We have to keep working,” he said. But the highlight of Vladi’s statements was that he gave his team room to extend him, as his pretensions were less than those of the historic contract received by Juan Soto:
It’s much less than (Juan) Soto. We’re talking about a few million less than Soto, many millions less, more than 100 less than Soto, let them do the math what they know how to do the math
He added: “I don’t think it reaches 600 (million dollars), the amount I was looking for. The amount we gave (as a counteroffer) was not 600,” referring to the fact that he was looking for a long-term contract, of at least 15 years.
Regarding his immediate future, the Dominican-born ballplayer said he is open to listening to offers:
“I know the business. I lowered it a little bit (to salary demands), but I lowered the years (of duration) too (…) I’m looking for 14 (years). I’d like 14, 15, even 20 (years) to be given to me, but as it should be done,” said the player.
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