The extension of Guerrero is excellent for the jays and the best free agents – and without a doubt the tensions of the job will increase

I know what you are thinking: $ 500 million for a first baseman? Without he goes even to the free agency? Crazy.

No topic, but the bridesmaids of Toronto – Er, Blue Jays – had not much chosen with Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The loss of Guerrero – a native Canadian pillar, of talents and franchising – would have devastated the Jays. Now, at least, the team can build around Guerrero, whether under this front office or in the other, and Toronto fans can rejoice in what has not escaped.

Prepared for a series of anonymous quotes from rival managers who criticize the Blue Jays as irresponsible. Wash, rinse, repeat. Jays fans – and really, most fans – doesn’t matter if their team behaves responsibly. They care to keep the players who are faces of the franchise.

This agreement realizes this – and with an average annual value of $ 35.7 million in 14 years, the Guerrero contract is probably more logical than $ 51 million AAV by Juan Soto in 15 years with the New York Mets.

With Soto, who signed as a free agent, the rivals essentially raised their hands and said: “Well, that is Steve Cohen”. Rogers Communications, owner of the Blue Jays, is a company with a financial muscle similar to Cohen. He does not have the obligation to worry about the chain effects of the war exemption, in the current value, is worth about $ 40 million more than the contract of free agent of Shohei Ohtani with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

For those who howl, “now of the salary!” The Guerrero agreement is precisely the reason why the players oppose in this way thus vehemently to a solid restriction on top of the salary scale. The free market works quite well for elite talents, thank you very much. And the middle class would not necessarily do better under a limit system.

Guerrero celebrates with the short Bo Bichette, who now becomes the most important Blue Jays agent. (John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Immagn)

When they assign enormous contracts, the teams attribute a prize to the players between the middle and the late 1920s. Yoshinbu Yamamoto, without launching a single shot in the majors, obtained his agreement from $ 325 million for a pitcher who enters his 25 -year season. Soto obtained his $ 765 million entering his 26 -year -old season. The Guerrero agreement will begin in 2026, entering its 27 -year -old season. And none of these contracts includes differences.

The Guerrero agreement is excellent news for the right defender Kyle Tucker, an all -round player for Guerrero, and bad news for the Chicago Cubs, the team he acquired Tucker entering his year of walking. Tucker, 28, is two years more than Guerrero, so the agreement that will probably not be longer. But in open offers, its AAV data are at least $ 40 million. And perhaps a little higher. Twelve years, $ 42 million a year, a guarantee of $ 504 million? The owner of Cubs Tom Ricketts already cries.

The price for mets to keep their first base, Pete Alonso, probably went up. Alonso, who at 30 is four years older than Guerrero, has fought the last season on the open market. The $ 54 million two -year contract that has signed with the Mets includes a renunciation after this season, an Alonso is sure that it will exercise if his hot start is the prelude to a monster year. True, Alonso will continue to face questions about his defense and athleticism. But Guerrero and Soto also faced those questions and in the younger age. Have this, Steve Cohen.

If the rival clubs want to complain about the Guerrero contract, their most valid argument would be that the Jays should have loosened it For less money a long time ago. The Jays had numerous possibilities to do this, in particular after the Padas of San Diego assigned to Fernando Tatis Jr. A 14 -year extension and $ 340 million in February 2021. But the Jays moored and darted, making an offer after the other that Guerrero considered insufficient. And after Soto’s contract – one that the whole sport saw, if not entirely, found themselves in a corner from which they could not escape.

Guerrero ended with a guarantee almost four times the career earnings of his father, Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero Sr., who played from 1996 to 2011. Yes, salaries continue to travel, just like franchise values ​​continue to pack. Nobody – no player, no owner – was broken in a sector that last season generated $ 12.1 billion in revenue.

The Guerrero agreement is no longer crazy than the initial agreement of $ 252 million by Alex Rodriguez with the Texas Rangers in 2000. And the extension of 325 million dollars by Giancarlo Stanton with Miami Marlins. And the extension of $ 426.5 million Mike Trout with the Los Angeles Angels. None of these contracts aged well, of course. Numerous others do not. For better or for worse, such is the price of doing business. But the current system will not remain intact without fighting.

The owners are already shaking for a limit. The players are already preparing for a blocking commissioner Rob Manfred, but he promised when the current collective barfire agreement expires after the 2026 season. He does not have to come to all this. The parties can face the problem of the disparity of wages, very real in this sport, in numerous other ways.

A first baseman receives $ 500 million without going to free agency figures only to increase tensions. Yes, it was an isolated case, an effort of the last moat by a desperate team to preserve a superstar that could not bear to lose. But try to tell the players that the system is broken. It is a losing discussion, 500 million times.

(Superior Photo of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.: Elsa/Getty Images)