Feb 26, 2019
Atkins: Vlad Jr. is not a major leaguer right now
As the debate continues to wage on as to when the Toronto Blue Jays should call up top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr., team general manager Ross Atkins says the 19-year-old is not quite ready for the majors yet.
TSN.ca Staff
![Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Mark Cunningham/MLB photos via Getty Images Vladimir Guerrero Jr.](/polopoly_fs/1.1263110.1551046016!/fileimage/httpImage/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_620/vladimir-guerrero-jr.jpg)
As the debate continues to wage on as to when the Toronto Blue Jays should call up top prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr., team general manager Ross Atkins says the 19-year-old is not quite ready for the majors yet.
"I just don't see him as a major league player, Atkins told SiriusXM's MLB Network Radio on Tuesday. "He's 19. He's accomplished everything he can as an offensive player and there are so many opportunities for him defensively and what he can do to really maximize the power and strengths that he has.
"Everyone then points to defence, but it's really just not about defence. It's about him having a 15-20-year career and starting with an incredible foundation. ... The physical aspect, the base-running, the defence and that physical aspect really plays into what type of offensive player he's going to be. He has the ability to be so versatile and dynamic, and we want to make sure that we tap into all of that potential."
Guerrero, who is the son of 2018 baseball Hall of Fame inductee Vladimir Guerrero Sr., has been in the Blue Jays organization since the club signed him in 2015. Last season, he hit 20 combined home runs and 78 RBIs between the team’s Double-A and Triple-A affiliates en route to being named Baseball America's Minor League Player of the Year.
In his first ever spring training game last Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, Guerrero drove in a run and scored another in the Blue Jays' 9-8 loss.