Vladimir Guerrero Sr. began his MLB career with the Montreal Expos. While in Montreal, he had a son, Vlad Guerrero Jr. The younger Guerrero, who has both Canadian and Dominican citizenship, stayed in The Great White North as his baseball career took off. He signed with the Toronto Blue Jays in 2015 as a 16-year-old and quickly rose up the amateur ranks. Guerrero made his professional debut on April 26, 2019—just a month after his 20th birthday.
And now, he’s signing a contract worth half a billion dollars.
Guerrero and the Blue Jays agreed to a 14-year, $500 million extension. The contract, which includes no deferred money, is the third-largest in MLB history. Only Juan Soto’s deal with the New York Mets (15 years, $765 million) and Shohei Ohtani’s contract with the Dodgers (10 years, $700 million) are worth more.
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Guerrero has already made four All-Star teams, earned two All-MLB First Team nods, and won a pair of Silver Slugger Awards and a Gold Glove. He led the league in home runs in 2021 and has topped 160 for his career so far. He’ll also certainly reach 1,000 career hits this season, and he’s only 26 years old.
Guerrero was the cover athlete for the MLB The Show 24 video game, too. That probably didn’t impact his salary negotiations, but it’s still a cool accomplishment.
The younger Guerrero will obliterate his father’s career earnings. The largest contract Guerrero Sr. ever signed was a five-year, $70 million deal in 2004. Per Spotrac, he made a little over $129 million over 16 seasons. His son will pass those earnings in fewer than four seasons.
Initially, this deal looked like it might not even happen. The two sides couldn’t come to an agreement on a long-term deal, and Guerrero Jr. had to agree to a one-year deal to avoid arbitration. That $28.5 million was the third-largest such agreement, behind Soto last year and Ohtani two seasons ago.
But now, Guerrero Jr. is in town for the long haul, with this deal paying him until he’s 40 years old. The Blue Jays hope there are multiple titles along the way.
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