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Negotiating kid steals the show at Toronto Blue Jays game

Marley Dickinson
Marley Dickinson
|
May 25 2026, 8:50 pm
Negotiating kid steals the show at Toronto Blue Jays game
@Pirates/X

For most MLB players, their first career home run ball is priceless. The difficult part is getting it back from a fan.

When a kid caught Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Esmerlyn Valdez’s first career home run during Sunday’s game at Rogers Centre against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Pirates thought it would be easy to toss the kid a couple of balls in exchange ā€” wrong.

The fan who grabbed it, a young Blue Jays fan named Adam Molnar, had no interest in handing it over without getting something valuable in return. Initially, Pirates pitcher Justin Lawrence tried offering Molnar a few signed baseballs, but it didn’t do the trick.

“The kid came running up, and in my head I was kind of like, ‘thank goodness it’s a kid, this should be very easy,'” Lawrence told MLB.com. “[But] right away he goes, ‘I think I’m going to keep it.'”

Molnar reportedly called his dad, whom the Pirates broadcast crew jokingly referred to as his lawyer, before returning with terms for a trade.

His asking price for the home run ball was simple: a signed bat and hat from Valdez.

Lawrence hilariously became the middleman for this negotiation with the young Blue Jays fan, signalling toward the Pirates dugout from the bullpen that the team needed to cough up a signed bat if they wanted the ball back.

When the bullpen received the bat, the two sides made the exchange. Valdez got his home-run keepsake, and Molnar received a special autographed bat, plus an interaction he’ll remember for the rest of his life.

The negotiation between the two parties was the only highlight from Sunday’s game for Blue Jays fans, as Toronto fell to Pittsburgh 4-1 and had Vladimir Guerrero Jr. leave the game after being hit in his elbow by a pitch in the fifth inning.

The Blue Jays said Guerrero’s X-rays on his elbow came back negative, and he could be available Monday night when Toronto opens a three-game series against the Miami Marlins.

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