SIMMONS: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s new deal is completely crazy, but the Blue Jays had to do it

Article content

The desperation of a franchise fighting for an identity, fighting for credibility, fighting to maintain a fan base, means the Blue Jays had no choice but to overpay Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at US$500 million over the next 14 years.

That’s the cost of doing business in today’s baseball world after the Jays misplayed Guerrero’s personal circumstances and pending free agency.

That’s the cost of paying a first baseman, something baseball has never been comfortable doing, while the Jays tripped all over themselves on the way into this season.

The truth is, Mark Shapiro and Ross Atkins — who cannot be around at the end of Guerrero’s contract if owner Edward Rogers has anything resembling a pulse — should have signed Guerrero years ago. For less money and less term.

The way San Diego signed Fernando Tatis Jr. in 2021. The way Atlanta signed Ronald Acuna Jr. in 2019.

Those are Guerrero comparable of sorts, without testing free agency, although playing positions that matter more.

The Jays then made a big push to sign Shohei Ohtani and made another push to sign Juan Soto in free agency and they demonstrated, in both cases, how much they were willing to pay for outsiders. All the while pushing up the price of their own pending free agent.

It was dumb business, but it’s what we’ve come to expect from the Jays. In their world, $500 million may not resonate the way $500 million does in ours. That is the daily disconnect between professional sport today and what’s left of our real world.

The Blue Jays spent $500 million in recent seasons on renovations — in Toronto at Rogers Centre and in Dunedin at their spring training home. They put their money into facilities and stadiums and, while doing so, upped their payroll to record levels.

The payroll went up. The number of wins did not. And here is one problem with the Guerrero signing, not taking into account the tumult the rest of baseball will treat this deal with.

Guerrero had a great season last year and the Jays finished last. They had one of the worst hitting teams in baseball. One offensive player, by himself — unless he’s Aaron Judge — can’t seem to change teams.

This past weekend in New York, with the Jays unable to score much against the Mets, looked a whole lot like last season’s team. Guerrero should be great — and probably will be great — he has so much talent and so much joy for the game, but he might wind up in the Mike Trout kind of circumstance in Toronto.

All these years Trout was just about the best player in baseball for the Los Angeles Angels. But with nothing in the post-season to show for it. Nothing to remember him for other than great regular seasons on so-so ball teams.

Guerrero is still young at just 26. The Blue Jays have been trying to figure out who they are in his time in Toronto as he has tried to figure out who he is.

They’ve been to the playoffs three times in wild-card circumstances and three times they were swept rather handily. In the most recent playoff game they played, the famous Jose Berrios-pulled-shutout game against the Minnesota Twins, Guerrero left the wrong impression.

How could someone born into baseball, around ballparks his entire life, the son of a Hall of Famer, fall asleep in the fifth inning of a possible season-ending playoff game?

Bo Bichette, the most productive hitter on the Jays that season, was at the plate. The Jays had a runner on third base with Guerrero on second. The pitcher Sonny Gray spun toward second base and picked off Guerrero. The Jays were eliminated by Minnesota that day. The final score was 2-0.

That’s the most recent playoff game the Blue Jays played.

Their next playoff game? To be determined. But at least we know one thing: Now that he’s signed up for 14 more seasons at $35.7 million per year, Guerrero isn’t leaving town unless somewhere along the way there is some kind of mutual parting.

Historically, the Jays have lost some of their greatest players because they couldn’t compete or wouldn’t pay to compete and the stars just got frustrated waiting for a big season. Roy Halladay asked out. Carlos Delgado left and, well before him, George Bell went in free agency. Two of those were homegrown. Bell seemed like he was.

The best Jays team in recent memory had Jose Bautista in the outfield, Edwin Encarnacion at first base, Russell Martin catching, Josh Donaldson at third base and Troy Tulowitzki at shortstop — all of them big-time, major-league players, acquired by trades or free agency.

Guerrero’s different. He was a Jays signing when they outworked most of baseball to acquire him as a teenager. Not long after that, they drafted Bichette. The two became linked together, in the minor leagues, and now as a signed player in Guerrero and a pending free agent in Bichette.

Bichette has said many times over the years that he and Guerrero have talked about playing their entire careers together. That may happen. It may not. The Bichette free agency is next on the Jays agenda, if they choose to go that way.

At least now, the Jays have a bat and a face for their franchise for the next 14 years, which seems about five years too many.

But they had no choice, really. They had to overpay. The market dictated that and their inability to read the market dictated both the price and the eventual term.

It’s a crazy deal, really. A crazy deal that had to be made.

ssimmons@postmedia.com

twitter.com/simmonssteve