Shapiro reasserts confidence Blue Jays will extend Guerrero Jr.
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Toronto Blue Jays team president Mark Shapiro expressed confidence the team will be able to sign star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to an extension this season while speaking to reporters on Thursday.
"I think we're going to sign him. I think we're going to extend him," Shapiro said, per MLB.com's Keegan Matheson. "The reason I feel that way is because we have such a clear alignment on the desired outcome."
Guerrero set a deadline in the off-season beyond which he would not discuss a contract extension with the team: February 18, the start of Spring Training.
The day came and passed without a deal agreed upon, and though Guerrero set the deadline with the intention of avoiding causing a distraction, the story has come up multiple times since and is likely to cast a long shadow over the season.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic reported earlier in March that the star slugger was seeking $500 million in present day value for his next contract. Jon Heyman of the New York Post also reported the Jays offered Guerrero around $500 million ahead of his deadline, but the deal included significant deferrals which devalued its worth to somewhere between $400 million, and $450 million.
With Guerrero reportedly looking for a 14-year deal, the two sides appear to be approximately $50 million apart in their negotiation, or $3.5 million per season.
Shapiro is focused on the overarching impact Guerrero can have on baseball in Toronto, as the Blue Jays continue to seek their first World Series title since 1993, and first victory in a postseason game since the ALCS in 2016.
"There just aren't that many players any more who are signed, developed, born in the country of Canada and play their whole career in one place, in one uniform. I call those guys legacy players," Shapiro said.
"My origins in the game are dotted with those players, from Brooks Robinson to Cal Ripken Jr. to Kirby Puckett. Those are players that, for me, defined what it meant to be a baseball fan. That's the fabric of why I'm in the game today. This is a guy who has the chance to do that here."
The quality of the player weighs heavily in the negotiations as well for Shapiro.
"Let me be clear. There's only been one player in my time in Major League Baseball who had a marketing case that significantly and meaningfully offset the value of his contract. One player. Only one," said Shapiro.
"In every other case, I would say the only other thing that actually sells tickets in the hundreds of thousands is winning. There are players who have magnetic personalities, like Vlad, who amplify winning and can really help, but fans don't come to see great players on a losing team. We need to win to have fans come in the largest numbers possible. Vlad is a part of helping us win and he's a player that has a chance to be a very special player for a generation of Blue Jays fans."
Guerrero was a star for the Blue Jays a season ago, hitting .323 with 30 home runs and 103 runs batted in. He finished sixth in AL MVP voting.