Toronto Blue Jays have a new plan to maximize Guerrero Jr. this season
The Toronto Blue Jays might not have clarity on their long-term future with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., but they’ve got their eyes focused on the here and now.
Guerrero Jr. signed a one-year deal with the Blue Jays worth $28.5 million for the 2025 season but notably did not land a contract extension past this year. With a self-imposed deadline of spring training to land a long-term deal with Toronto, Guerrero Jr. looks set to become a free agent for the first time in his career after the 2025 campaign.
“I want to be here. I want to be a Blue Jay for the rest of my career,” Guerrero Jr. told reporters through a translator upon his return to spring training. “But it’s free agency, it’s business, I am going to have to listen to 29 more teams, and [Toronto] is going to have to compete for that.”
But while the dark cloud of potentially losing their franchise player next winter might hang over Toronto all year, they’ve still got games to play in front of them.
And with the team’s home opener in three weeks and a day (March 28 against the Baltimore Orioles), the Jays have announced a new plan as to how to maximize Guerrero Jr. this season while they’ve still got him.
Speaking to the media on Wednesday, Toronto manager John Schneider confirmed that Guerrero Jr. will be playing some third base this season, as he lined up in the position for a spring training game against the Pittsburgh Pirates in that role, in contrast to his usual first base spot, where he earned a Gold Glove in 2022.
But as per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, it’s mainly going to be a situational choice rather than a regular starting spot.
John Schneider says that, for now, Vladdy's versatility at 3B could be more about late-game scenarios.
There's not a clear 1B option who could maximize a lineup if they're wedged in to bump Vladdy to 3B. He'll still make the odd start there, but nothing extreme. #BlueJays
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) March 5, 2025
Guerrero Jr. played just 12 games at third base in 2024, and has played 110 games in his career in the role, the majority of which were in his rookie year in 2019. He did, however, come up in the minor leagues as a third baseman and has previously stated that it is his preferred spot on the diamond.
Guerrero Jr. finished last season with 30 home runs and hit .323, and he finished sixth in AL MVP voting for his efforts.
Since making his MLB debut with Toronto in 2019, he has 160 home runs, 507 RBIs, and is hitting .288. Last year, he was named an All-Star Game starter for the third time.
- You might also like:
- Toronto Blue Jays' new star Santander shares a conspiracy theory about Elon Musk