Blue Jays make last-ditch contract extension offer to Vlad Guerrero Jr. as season start looms

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Could the Blue Jays be making a last-ditch effort to avoid being eyewitnesses to a season-long march to free agency by all-star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr.?

With the 2025 season set to get underway Thursday afternoon at the Rogers Centre, a report from respected ESPN insider Buster Olney says that the Jays have upped their offer to the 26-year-old slugger.

Details of that offer aren’t yet known, but Olney reported that “a gap remains between the two sides.”

How large that gap is remains to be seen, but if there is a willingness by both sides to move, it’s not out of the question that a deal could get done early in the season.

Both sides have been clear in their assertions that they want to get something done. Guerrero repeatedly has said publicly that he would like to be a Jay for life while team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins each have said that they are still hopeful that free agency can be avoided.

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At his pre-season media availability on Wednesday, Atkins said that he was “hopeful” in reaching an agreement with Guerrero, whether it is in-season or during free agency.

In an interview with the Toronto Sun during spring training, Shapiro expressed confidence in getting Guerrero under contract and suggested that negotiations would continue, even though Guerrero had a self-imposed cutoff of Feb. 18.

“The underlying real positive foundation is that (Guerrero) wants to remain a Blue Jay for his career, genuinely and authentic,” Shapiro told the Sun. “I believe that and we want to keep him here for his career. We want him to be a Blue Jay.

“It’s that rare opportunity to have a player who was signed, developed, got to the big leagues, has a chance to be one of the greatest position player in the history in the franchise.

“We would like to keep him here. Maybe it gets done some point before free agency.”

With details not fully revealed, it’s unclear how far the two sides were apart, though several reports suggested it was in the range of US$50 million over the course of a 14-year deal. Reports had suggested that Guerrero was seeking a $500-million deal without deferrals.

For their part, the Jays believed they were genuine in their offer with Shapiro telling the Sun that “we have gone well past what our rational point of objectivity framing the contract value is.”