Guerrero wins Sporting News AL Comeback Player of the Year; Varsho picks up two fielding awards
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Toronto Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has won Sporting News' American League Comeback Player of the Year award, it was announced Thursday.
Guerrero had his best season since nearly winning AL MVP in 2021, hitting a career-best .323 with 30 home runs and 103 RBI. Guerrero's OPS (.940) was just below his mark of 1.002 from three seasons ago while his OPS+, a stat that measures his offensive production relative to league average, was 166.
He made the All-Star team for the fourth consecutive season and finished as the team leader in homers, RBI, batting average, OPS, slugging percentage (.544) and games played (159).
The 25-year-old's season was a huge improvement on a largely disappointing 2023, where Guerrero slashed .264/.345/.444 with 26 homers and 94 RBI.
Despite Guerrero's individual success, the Blue Jays had their worst season since 2019, finishing 74-88 to miss the playoffs after playing in the postseason two consecutive years prior.
Guerrero is scheduled to be a free agent after the 2025 season and despite multiple indications from general manager Ross Atkins of the Jays' desire to get a deal done, he and the team remain without a long-term extension in place.
Guerrero heads into his seventh season as a Blue Jay with a career batting line of .288/.363/.500 to go along with 160 homers in 819 regular season games.
Varsho claims two Fielding Bible awards
Outfielder Daulton Varsho made a splash for the Blue Jays on Thursday as well, as he was named recipient of two separate Fielding Bible awards.
Varsho was named the winner of the Multi-Position Award and Defensive Player of the Year by Fielding Bible.
The 28-year-old ranked tops in the majors with 28 defensive runs saved, per Fielding Bible. Jarren Duran of the Boston Red Sox was second-best at 23.
Varsho worked 672.0 innings in centre field, as well as 404.1 innings in left and 9.0 innings in right field.
“We’ve been saying he’s the best defender in baseball for the last two years, and I’m glad he’s starting to get the proper recognition for it,” said manager John Schneider in a release.
Varsho is a finalist in centre field for the Rawlings Gold Glove award, which is set to be announced on Nov. 3.