Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is naming his price ahead of his expedition into free agency next winter.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported Tuesday on the “magic number” that the Toronto Blue Jays slugger Guerrero is seeking as a free agent — $500 million. Rosenthal further notes that the $500 million that Guerrero is targeting would be in present value (with no deferrals).
For reference, Shohei Ohtani popularized the trend of deferrals last offseason with his mammoth 10-year, $700 million free agent deal from the Los Angeles Dodgers. That deal came with almost equally massive contract deferrals, meaning that the present-day value of Ohtani’s contract is “only” around $460 million.
But Guerrero’s number may represent a middle ground of sorts between Ohtani and Juan Soto, who got a record-setting 15-year, $765 million deal from the New York Mets this offseason with no deferred money at all. Guerrero himself has said that he is seeking around 14 years on his next contract, and at $500 million, he would be making far less money than Soto (both per year and in total) but more in present-day value than Ohtani.
One can easily debate whether Guerrero, a four-time MLB All-Star at 25 years old, is worth that kind of money, especially with no deferrals. His power numbers (four consecutive seasons of 25 home runs or more and an .863 career OPS) speak for themselves. But Guerrero is a subpar defender playing at a position in first base that is easily replaceable. On a 14-year deal, Guerrero will probably be spending a good chunk of that contract DH’ing, and he is much less well-rounded with the bat than Soto is in comparison.
In any case, the righty-hitting Guerrero is officially set to become a free agent next winter after failing to reach an extension agreement with the Blue Jays. A few days ago, Guerrero revealed that his final contract ask from Toronto was for a good amount more than $500 million. Now it sounds like Guerrero is willing to come down from that number … but only if there are no deferrals in the contract that he ends up getting.
