Penton: Signing Guerrero, Jr., key for Blue Jays
By Bruce Penton
The most important date in the Toronto Blue Jays 2025 season might already be over. Feb. 18 was the day Vladimir Guerrero, Jr., set as his deadline for contract negotiations and the team’s future may hinge on what happened that day.
Without Guerrero signing an extension prior to the start of spring training, the Montreal-born slugger said he will not negotiate during the season and will play out his contract, which expires at the end of the 2025 season. That would make him a free agent, and front-office rivals in New York and Boston were salivating at the thought of having Guerrero sign a long-term free-agent contract with their franchises..
If he hasn’t signed a long-term deal with the Jays by his self-imposed deadline of Feb. 18, then Guerrero, Jr., will likely be traded to a contender seeking a big bat for this season's stretch drive. Toronto would fetch some talented prospects, and likely a regular or two, but most Toronto fans would rather have Guerrero, Jr., playing for the Jays into the 2030s.
Since Juan Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the Mets, and is one year older than the 25-year-old Guerrero, Jr., it’s hard to envision the Blue Jays star not demanding somewhere in the $600 million range for 12 to 15 years. He might even want Soto money, although his stats aren’t quite as good as the former Padre, National and Yankee.
Meanwhile, as Jays’ fans were lamenting that all was quiet on the free-agent front, the front office sprung into action in January and signed slugger Anthony Santander, a former Baltimore Oriole outfielder who belted 44 home runs last year. Then they grabbed 40-year-old pitcher Max Scherzer, a former ace but probably still able to put together one decent year. The three-time Cy Young award winner will get $15.5 million from the Blue Jays for one year’s service and, coming off a 2024 campaign with the Rangers where he had a 2-4 injury-plagued season (hamstring, shoulder and back problems) expectations are tempered in Jaysville. Still, Jays’ brass are holding out hope that Scherzer might find the touch that led him to 216 career wins and a 3.15 earned-run average.
Overall, the Jays’ roster appears able to at least improve over last year’s 74-88 record (last place in MLB’s toughest division, the American League East).. Any lineup featuring Guerrero, Jr., Bo Bichette, Santander, Daulton Varsho, and George Springer should generate a bushel of runs. And with Scherzer added to a pitching staff featuring Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman, the word ‘potential’ is front and centre. Yariel Rodriguez (1-8 as a rookie reliever last year) and Bowden Francis (8-5 in 2024) could also fit into the rotation..
The Jays played their first spring training game Feb. 22 vs. the Yankees. Their regular season begins with the first of four games March 27 vs. Baltimore (91-71 last season). By the time April Fools’ Day arrives, Jays’ fans might have an inkling as to what 2025 might hold.
Vancouver’s Steve Burgess, on sports being a distraction during turbulent political times: “Cheering for the Canucks is a distraction in the sense that a third-degree burn distracts from a toothache.”
Burgess again, on the reported feud between Canuck players Elias Petterssen and J.T. Miller, prior to his trade to the Rangers: “It’s never a good sign when the most hard-hitting action happens in the locker room.”
ABC late-night host Jimmy Kimmel, on the Super Bowl: “For me, the best part was listening to Tom Brady pretend he was not ecstatic about Patrick Mahomes not winning Super Bowl number four.”
Columnist Norman Chad, on things overheard from the four-legged competitors through the years at the Westminster Dog Show at Madison Square Garden: 1. “Hey, Apple, would it kill you to come up with a Hydrant Locator app for my iPhone?”; 2. “If you go No. 2 on the red carpet, you might as well get on the first bus to Palookaville.”
Luke Fox of Sportsnet.ca., on the aggressive style Sam Bennett brought to Canada’s team in the Four Nations Faceoff: “Sam Bennett, an even looser Panthers cannon all decked out in Red, White and Bruise.”
From a sports joke site on the web, alluding to Usain Bolt’s speed: “What happens if Usain Bolt misses his bus? He waits for it at the next stop.”
Greg Cote of the Miami Herald: “There’s axe-throwing at many bars. Hey, there’s a combo with no foreseeable problems: Alcohol ... and axes! Why don’t we have track event that involves athletes being shot from cannons or catapulted over castle walls?”
Comedy guy Torben Rolfsen of Vancouver: “San Jose Sharks traded off two of their best players. They’re putting the ‘tank’ back in Shark Tank.”
Another one from Rolfsen, after the Canucks acquired Marcus Pettersson in a trade from Pittsburgh, joining two others, both named Elias, with the Pettersson surname: “Now Vancouver has Petey, D-Petey and 3-Petey.”
Headline at fark.com: “Super Bowl losers pocket $96,000 each. Finally, a participation trophy worth having.”
Care to comment? Email brucepenton2003@yahoo.ca