The MLB free agent season never ends, or so it seems. As soon as the final top 2025 free agents â the New York Mets’ Pete Alonso and the Boston Red Sox’ Alex Bregman in particular â signed contracts at the start of spring training, speculation turned to 2026. That’s when the top name on the market will be Toronto Blue Jays 26-year-old, four-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
At least, that is when Guerrero’s period of team control expires. Heading into 2025 Guerrero, whose .940 OPS last year was good enough for sixth in MLB, avoided arbitration by signing a one-year, $28.5 million contract with Toronto. Now Guerrero is looking for a raise.
According to what he said in an interview with ESPN earlier this month, Guerrero Jr. â son of Montreal Expos and Los Angeles Angels Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero â is looking for a contract totaling nearly $600 million over 14 or 15 seasons.
Guerrero Says He Doesn’t Need a Soto-Sized Contract
Guerrero said that in his contract extension negotiations with the Blue Jays this offseason, he was not seeking to match the $765 million, 15 year contract handed to Juan Soto by the Mets in December.
“It’s much less than Soto,” Guerrero said in early March, as quoted by ESPN. “We’re talking about many fewer millions than Soto, more than a hundred million less. The last number we gave them as a counteroffer didn’t reach 600 (million).”
The slugger who led the American League with 48 home run blasts in 2021 also said that he would like a contract lasting 20 years, but was willing to shave five or even six years off that total.
While Guerrero Jr. did not offer specifics on the Blue Jays counter-offer, he made clear that the team did not offer him enough to stop him from testing free agency after the 2025 season. Guerrero said that he will not continue negotiations with the Blue Jays during the 2025 season, according to ESPN MLB insider journalist Jeff Passan, a stance that would appear to make his free agency inevitable.
Speculation has run wild with possible destinations for the first baseman who has hit 136 home runs over the last four years. According to another MLB insider, Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the “early favorites” to haul in next offseason’s big free agent prize would be, perhaps unsurprisingly, the Red Sox, Mets and New York Yankees. Boston appears to be his top preference.
âItâs no secret that Vladimir Guerrero (Jr.) has told friends that if he hits free agency, heâd love to play for the Boston Red Sox,â USA Today MLB scribe Bob Nightengale wrote earlier thus year. âGuerrero officially enters spring without a contract extension.â
A Bold Prediction From Blue Jays Boss Mark Shapiro
But on Thursday, Toronto’s own chief executive officer, Mark Shapiro, offered his own bold prediction of where Guerrero Jr. would end up in the 2026 season.
Shapiro’s prediction? The Toronto Blue Jays.
“My overarching feeling is one of optimism. I think weâre going to sign him. I think weâre going to extend him,” Shapiro said in a meeting with reporters, as quoted by Shi Davidi of the Canadian network SportsNet. “The reason I feel that way is because we have such a clear alignment on the desired outcome. Vlad wants to play his whole career as a Toronto Blue Jay. We want him to end his career in a Blue Jays uniform to be a true legacy player for the Toronto Blue Jays.”
Guerrero Jr., for his part, said in February that though he will not negotiate during the season, he would not “close the door” if the Blue Jays come back to him later with a “realistic offer,” according to reporter Hazel Mae.
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