If Guerrero Jr. leaves Blue Jays, front office deserves to be fired
Ross Atkins has seen a lot of players come and go in his time in charge of the Toronto Blue Jays.
But while he’s struggled to land the big fish in free agency the last few seasons, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the one he can’t mess up — or it could cost him his job.
With the 25-year-old star having the option to hit free agency following next season, the clock is ticking on the most important negotiation of Atkins’ career, as well as team president Mark Shapiro’s.
After falling short on Juan Soto, Atkins took to the press with a less-than-inspiring quote explaining the team’s pursuit of the star slugger, who ended up going to the New York Mets.
“He’s a really good player and a really good person on and off the field. He had a lot of interest. We were grateful to be a part of the process,” Atkins said.
Of course, free agents can only pick one team to sign with, and perhaps the Mets were always destined to have the most desirable offer for Soto.
The comments about Soto aren’t all that dissimilar from what Atkins said a year ago after falling short of landing Shohei Ohtani, who ended up winning the World Series in his first year as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Incredible process and group effort and collaboration that I feel so good about, not only that process but what it meant to be in that position for the organization, for the city, for the country,” Atkins said. “We felt incredible about the process, but we moved on.”
While Jays fans might not exactly be all that inspired by Atkins’ media appearances, a few awkward moments and a bit too much talk about the process would be forgiven if the team had any semblance of playoff success. But for a team that’s still searching for its first postseason victory in just one game since 2016, patience is pretty thin among the Blue Jays faithful these days.
Soto and Ohtani were big dreams that fell short, but Guerrero Jr. is meant to be different.
Born in Montreal, the former top prospect in baseball, and the undisputed face of the franchise, the Jays have counted on him as their main draw for nearly a decade now. While he made his major league debut in 2019, fans have been closely following his rise to stardom ever since he signed as an international free agent back in 2015.
Guerrero Jr. is the lead of every Blue Jays highlight reel, he’s the name on the back of most jerseys in the Rogers Centre, and if the franchise is ever to get back to World Series contention, he’ll almost certainly be leading the charge, having finished sixth in AL MVP voting this year and second in 2021.
In just six seasons, he’s found himself among the team’s all-time greats, sitting 11th all-time in WAR among position players, 15th in hits, and eighth in home runs.
Keeping him around in Toronto on a long-term deal could cement his place as one of, if not the best Jays hitter of all time, assuming his production stays strong.
Losing him, on the other hand, could be a franchise-decimating move. While baseball teams require more than just a single star player to achieve playoff success, it would be a seismic shock to the system of a team that’s already had quite a few in recent years. The Jays would eventually recover, but it would leave the most sour taste in the mouth of anyone with any sort of emotional attachment to the team.
For Atkins and Shapiro’s legacy in Toronto to be saved, Guerrero Jr.’s lasting impression can’t be an awkward soundbite a year from now thanking him for his service. It might sound hyperbolic, but the Jays’ entire front office’s job security might hinge on their ability to keep Guerrero Jr. around as long as possible.
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