Guerrero Jr. says he wants to sign long-term with Blue Jays

For a team that began the year wondering if they’d end up competing for a World Series, the 2024 edition of the Toronto Blue Jays has quickly become one of the most disappointing in franchise history.

The Blue Jays currently sit last in the American League East with a record of just 39-46, and are now 8.5 games back of the final wild-card playoff spot.

But asked this week about his future with the franchise, Toronto star slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. stated his intention to remain with the franchise long-term.

“Man, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here all my life. But this is business,” Guerrero Jr. said Thursday, as per TSN’s Scott Mitchell.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on extension, trade deadline, future with #BlueJays:
“Man, I don’t want to leave. I want to stay here all my life. But this is business."

Adds he doesn't think about $$$:
“My time is going to come. I don’t know if it’s soon or not but it’s going to come.”

— Scott Mitchell (@ScottyMitchTSN) July 4, 2024

Guerrero Jr. is batting .296 with 99 hits, 13 home runs, 50 RBIs and 42 runs scored in 86 games for the Blue Jays this season.

Guerrero Jr. — who finished second in American League MVP voting in 2021 and has long been viewed as the face of the franchise — was unable to come to terms on a long-term deal with Toronto this offseason, and had to have his contract decided via third-party arbitration. He’s currently on a one-year deal and will be arbitration-eligible once again in 2025, before having the possibility to hit unrestricted free agency next year.

“My time is going to come. I don’t know if it’s soon or not, but it’s going to come,” Guerrero Jr. added.

The conversation about the future of one of their franchise faces comes fresh off Wednesday’s announcement of Guerrero Jr. as an All-Star Game starter for the third time in his career.

It’s a bit of a different tune from fellow Jays star Bo Bichette’s recent comments to the media.

“No. Not surprised at all,” Bichette told Sportsnet reporter Hazel Mae last week when asked about the possibility of Toronto trading him away.

The 2024 MLB trade deadline is Tuesday, July 30, meaning that Toronto’s front office has a little more than three weeks to decide if they’ll have any major in-season moves to shake up the team’s core roster.

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