Because he pre-dated the social media age and had a legend based mostly on word of mouth and print, Vladimir Guerrero Sr. was a man of mystery as he was working his way into the major leagues.
That sense remained in the nascent years of his career with the Montreal Expos, due to language differences and a lack of Expos-ure. Guerrero Sr. was as much literary character out of a slower media age as he was gilt-edged prospect.
Yet Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s conversation with Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae in Dunedin this week reminded me that after more than four years there is still a sense of the unknown surrounding the son.
On the field, we’re still waiting for affirmation that his 2021 MVP-calibre season wasn’t a product of a bunch of games in minor-league ballparks caused by a COVID-necessitated, nomadic season. Is Vladdy a superstar deserving of being on the cover of ‘The Show 24’ or just a really good player who can win the Home Run Derby every other year?
And I’ll confess: if you told me in 2021 that in a couple of years the Toronto Blue Jays would have a payroll above a competitive balance tax threshold without having bought out any free-agent seasons from either Vladdy or Bo Bichette? I wouldn’t have bought it. Like many in the industry, the only question I had was which of the two players the team would eventually tie down and for how much. I’ll bet most of you thought it would be Vladdy. Me, too.
But we’re now two years away from Vladdy hitting free agency, and we can still only guess whether either side is (or ever was) inclined to pursue such a deal. Instead, Vladdy has gone year to year and done well, making $24 million before beating the team in arbitration this winter and earning a record $19.9 million.
I don’t know if being taken to arbitration will add fuel to Vladdy’s fire. It’s easy to see it as sending a message, but my experience is it’s silly getting bent out of shape over the fact teams take players to arbitration, especially if the player wins. The Blue Jays are like other file-and-trial teams: once figures are exchanged, they’ll go to a hearing because it’s a consistent approach that reinforces the notion that it’s just business and nothing personal. When it comes to business, what holds true for every other player holds true for Employee No. 27.
Back to Guerrero’s sit-down with Mae and his comment about wanting to bring back the ‘Home Run Jacket’ in 2024. “If the players don’t want to do it, I’ll probably do it myself in the corner,” he said. “But I’m gonna have fun. I’m gonna have fun this year.”
Which raises the question: is it important Vladdy has fun? Should we care if Vladdy has fun?
Look: I don’t know what to make of the whole Home Run jacket thing. Jackets, tridents, cowboy hats, fire hoses, samurai helmets … all of those were props for dugout home run celebrations in 2023. Everybody has a gimmick. Every team has a gimmick and if there’s buy-in from the players, I could care less. Anything that unites is good; anything that divides is bad. So, let’s see where this goes. We know that not every player was upset to see the jacket go away, but hell: put 26 people in a room — any room — and try to get unanimous consent on anything.
We know that in 2023 Vladdy made a point of miming putting the home run jacket in front of the dugout cameras after his homers. I’d say that said something. We know that the jacket’s disappearance coincided with the trade of Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Teoscar Hernandez — both of whom were close to Vladdy. We know that Vladdy’s uncle Wilton — who was as much of a presence as Guerrero Sr. in Vladdy’s childhood and knows his swing as well as anybody’s — answered an SOS and made a trip to Toronto last season while his nephew was slumping. David Ortiz told us on Blair & Barker that Vladdy reached out to him over the All-Star Break for some help. I’d say that said something, too. And this should come as no surprise: absent a long-term contractual commitment and without any real post-season success to date, there’s a lot about Vladdy that remains open to interpretation — except the importance of his bat.
Taking Betts on it …
Mookie Betts’ “temporarily permanent” move to shortstop with the Los Angeles Dodgers remains one of the most intriguing spring training storylines. Betts, who has made 1,128 starts in the outfield, started 77 games in right field in 2023 as well as 63 at second base and 12 at shortstop — the latter number representing his career total to date. If you’re wondering, since the colour barrier was broken in 1947 only 13 players have managed to make at least 100 career starts in right and at shortstop, as detailed in this fun read by Mike Petriello.
Two of them have significant ties with the Toronto Blue Jays and Montreal Expos. Bob Bailor made all but one of his 225 career starts in right for the Blue Jays as well as 56 of his 125 career starts at short. Hubie Brooks made 288 of his 561 career starts in right and 352 of his 368 career starts at short for the Expos. Brooks was traded from the New York Mets to the Montreal Expos in the Gary Carter swap (along with Mike Fitzgerald, Herman Winningham and Floyd Youmans) and was a two-time All-Star and Silver Slugger winner at short for the Expos before moving to right field at the age of 31 in 1988. Brooks was easily my favourite player to cover during my early years as an Expos beat reporter. Just a nice man …
The early schedule is a bear …
But the Blue Jays will face the Houston Astros in the second series of the season and the Astros have lost Justin Verlander and Jose Urquidy for the series — Urquidy for possibly longer — in addition to the already injured Luis Garcia and Lance McCullers. They’ve made a play for free-agent Blake Snell, but he wouldn’t be built up for the Jays and there’s no indication they’ll meet his asking price. The Blue Jays will face the New York Yankees without Gerrit Cole in their third series — and possibly with Aaron Judge behind schedule due to an oblique issue. The Tampa Bay Rays have announced that Josh Lowe (oblique injury) won’t be ready for the opening series at Tropicana Field. Hey, you take your breaks where you can get them …
It’s one game, but …
Tough not to come away from the Spring Breakout thumping of Blue Jays prospects by the New York Yankees without wondering about the whereabouts of the Blue Jays version of Spencer Jones. It’s one thing to shrug at the Baltimore Orioles’ haul of prospects and say: ‘Well, that’s what happens when you have high draft picks because of crappy regular-season records.’ But it’s tough for the Blue Jays to run out that excuse when it comes to the Yankees, who have four prospects in MLB Pipeline’s Top 100. Again, these are minor leaguers, ratings are ratings, and a lot can change in a year or two, but it’s vital that the Blue Jays have a new, cheap core before Vladdy and Bo walk after 2025 and placeholders such as Kevin Kiermaier and Justin Turner have run their race. Are we reaching a point where this organization needs to trade for prospects? I’d argue this is the most important year in some time for the Blue Jays minor-league system …
The Stro Show? I bet it will be a Broadway hit …
Watching the pitching carnage in spring training only reinforces what I felt about the Yankees’ signing of Marcus Stroman — that it will low-key turn into one of the best signings of the winter. There’s a mystique to the Yankees clubhouse, but we’ve seen ‘big’, unique personalities find their footing and grow inside it in the past and I think Stroman is going to be that guy. I know what you’re going to say: isn’t something different shown by the fact that Stroman balked at pitching on Opening Day after Cole’s injury? Nah, I see the opposite: I see a pitcher who has averaged 33 starts per year but has tossed less than 140 innings in each of the past two seasons and is being professional about the whole thing — more interested in maintaining his routine and maximizing off-days than anything else. Nestor Cortes will start Opening Day, with Stroman scheduled to draw in the No. 3 spot …
Jeff Blair hosts Blair & Barker from 11 A.M.-Noon ET on Sportsnet 590/The Fan and Sportsnet
