Blue Jays, star slugger Guerrero avoid arbitration with 1-year contract
Toronto 1st baseman secures $28.5M US deal entering final year under club control
The Toronto Blue Jays and slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. have avoided arbitration.
The Blue Jays announced Thursday that they agreed to one-year contracts with all seven of their arbitration-eligible players, including Guerrero at $28.5 million US.
Toronto also reached agreements with infielder Ernie Clement ($1.975M), catcher Alejandro Kirk ($4.6M), outfielder Daulton Varsho ($8.2M) and right-handed pitchers Alek Manoah ($2.2M), Zach Pop ($900K) and Nick Sandlin ($1.63M).
Players and teams were to exchange proposed arbitration figures Thursday.
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Guerrero had a resurgent past season. The star first baseman hit .323 with 30 homers and 103 RBIs, earning his fourth all-star nod and the Silver Slugger Award.
The 25-year-old face of the franchise, who enters his final season under team control in 2025, also finished sixth in American League MVP voting during a down year for the Blue Jays.
After reaching the post-season in 2020, ’22 and ’23, — falling in the wild-card round each time — Toronto finished last in the AL East last year at 74-88.
Last winter, Guerrero was awarded $19.9 million when an arbitration panel picked his request over the team’s offer of $18.05 million.
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Juan Soto set a record for an arbitration-eligible player when he agreed last year to a $31-million deal with the New York Yankees, topping Shohei Ohtani’s $30-million 2023 contract with the Los Angeles Angels. Soto became a free agent in November and signed a record $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets.
There were 155 players eligible for arbitration at the start of the day and a majority were expected to agree to deals.
For players failing to reach agreements, hearings will be scheduled before three-person panels from Jan. 27 through Feb. 14 at St. Petersburg, Fla.
Players went 9-6 in hearings last winter, leading teams with a 353-266 advantage since arbitration started in 1974.
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Guerrero, who made his big-league debut with Toronto in April 2019, played third base in his rookie year before moving across the diamond in the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.
His best year came in 2021, when he finished second in the AL MVP race after hitting .311 with 48 homers and 111 RBIs.
Guerrero won a Gold Glove in ’22 but his offensive numbers slipped a little, a trend that continued in ’23. He was in top form this past year, though, anchoring the lineup with a .940 OPS and .544 slugging percentage.
