‘If I go to free agency, every team, all 30 teams, are going to have the opportunity to sit down … to talk to me.’
With months of speculation ahead for the Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as he prepares to enter free agency after the 2025 season, the star slugger seemingly has put a bit of long-running speculation to bed.
Guerrero revealed on Saturday what exactly started his reported grudge with the New York Yankees.
No, it has nothing to do with the Bronx Bombers residing in the Blue Jays division and frequently getting the best of the boys in blue, it was their treatment of his father, Hall of Famer Vlad Guerrero Sr., during his venture into free agency decades ago.
In 2003, as the elder Guerrero was entering free agency after playing eight seasons for the Montreal Expos, the Yankees were said to be “down the road” in negotiations with the future hall of famer before team owner George Steinbrenner and ex-Yankee Dwight Gooden met with Gooden’s nephew, Gary Sheffield.
The team then changed its plans and opted to sign Sheffield instead as Guerrero went on to join the Angels. While Vlad Sr. got a bit of personal revenge on the Yanks in his first season in Anaheim, winning the AL MVP award, Vladdy Jr. — who was three years old at the time – has used the snub as motivation.
However, the elder Guerrero reportedly has advised the Jays star to be open-minded when it comes to his future.
“If I go to free agency, every team — all 30 teams — are going to have the opportunity to sit down with (me), to talk to me,” Guerrero said. “I’m OK with everything. It’s in the past.”
After the Blue Jays failed to come to an agreement with Guerrero Jr. on a long-term contract extension, the homegrown superstar is set to walk in free agency after this coming season.
With the star slugger’s self-imposed deadline for a new deal passing last Tuesday, speculation has run rampant on where Vladdy’s next baseball home will be because it’s seen as doubtful he will be in Toronto beyond 2025 — if he isn’t traded away earlier in the season.
One MLB insider got out his crystal ball and predicted where the all-star first baseman would end up — and it won’t make Jays fans happy at all.
During an appearance on MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM, Steve Phillips gave his thoughts on Vladdy’s next potential landing spot.
“He’s going to be a Yankee, I think he’s going to be a Yankees,” Phillips, a former GM for the New York Mets, said before laying out his rationale.
“I think that (Yankees first baseman Paul) Goldschmidt will be out after the year, (Mets slugger Pete) Alonso won’t opt out and Vladdy’s going to be a Yankee.”
Phillips said that Guerrero would form a formidable tandem with Aaron Judge, who won his second career AL MVP award last season after hitting a league-leading 58 home runs, while also potentially saving the team some cash after losing Juan Soto this off-season.
“They’re going to give him short of Soto money and, in the end, they’ll have Vladdy and Judge in the middle of the lineup instead of Soto and Judge and they’ll end up having spent less money and they’ll end up being a great team moving forward.
“They’ll be the best of the American League for years. So, I think Vladdy’s a Yankee.”
To add further fuel to that speculation, as noted by a Yankees fan account on social media, Guerrero liked an Instagram post showing himself in a Yankees uniform with Phillips’ report in the caption.
During last season, as speculation over his contract talks with the Blue Jays were heating up, Guerrero walked back an earlier statement that he would never play for the Bronx Bombers, even if he was “dead.”
Speaking with Spanish outlet Virus Deportivo last May, Vladdy changed his tune about potentially donning pinstripes.
“I’m a worker. I’m a professional,” Guerrero said when asked if he’d play for the Yankees. “I go out on the field to play.”
He also walked back his previous comments about the Jays’ AL East rivals.
“I talked with my dad, I talked with my family. Sometimes you say things that, it’s not like that,” Guerrero said. “I didn’t hold back what I said about the Yankees. But what I say is that the organization understands me.
“I’m a player that the (Yankees), that they need me with, or if they do something, it’s because they need me, obviously. I’ll be happy to help any team.”