Gregor Chisholm: Paid for the past? Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can expect payback from Blue Jays fans in the future

Every dollar of Vlad's contract is in fact a bet on what comes next, and he was already a polarizing figure.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays will close out their home schedule against the Cincinnati Reds starting Friday night at the Rogers Centre.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on X: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca.

It’s almost impossible to squander all the goodwill that came with last year’s Blue Jays run to the World Series, and yet Vladimir Guerrero Jr. found a way to do it in a matter of seconds.

Around this time last year, Guerrero was on top of the world. Fresh off signing a $500-million (U.S.) contract, he delivered one of the best post-seasons in recent memory, slugging eight home runs over three rounds and coming within a few feet of a Game 7 walk-off for the championship.

All of that seems so long ago now. The power from one of baseball’s supposed top sluggers has completely vanished, taking the Jays from first to worst in the American League East. That put Guerrero front and centre in one of the most disappointing seasons in franchise history.

Jays fans had been rightfully patient with Guerrero throughout this year’s struggles. Sure, there were critics and the usual complaints on social media, but inside the Rogers Centre there was rarely anything more than a smattering of boos when he failed to produce.

If this had been New York or Boston, fans would have been calling for his head. The reception here has been much more polite, but that figures to change — the Jays’ final home series starts Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds — after Guerrero stuck a foot in his mouth during a recent interview with Dominican reporter Veronica Batista.

“The money they gave me wasn’t for what I’m going to do,” Guerrero said in Spanish. “It was for what I already did. They didn’t pay me because I’m going to hit 40 (home runs) every year, they paid me for what I already accomplished.”

Pardon me? What he already accomplished?

When Guerrero signed the deal last spring, he still hadn’t accomplished much of anything. There was an MVP-calibre season in 2021 when he spent a large portion playing in the small confines of Dunedin, Fla. There were also tons of unmet expectations.

Guerrero was a very good player from the moment he arrived in 2019, but had yet to turn into the generational talent he was billed as. Fair or not, the talk was always about the player he could be, instead of the one he was.

The Jays knew that when they took a giant leap of faith by giving Guerrero the largest contract in club history. In doing so, they anointed him the leader of the franchise for the next 14 years.

Team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins did that under the assumption Guerrero’s best was still to come. He rewarded them with an epic run through the playoffs. It was the kind of clutch performance that proved he could elevate his game when it was needed the most, and solidified his standing among the game’s elite.

Toronto fans love their blue-collar role players, and are typically less friendly to athletes they feel are overpaid. There’s a long list — Vernon Wells, Alex Rios, heck even the great Carlos Delgado — who were adored right up until they signed long-term extensions. After putting pen to paper, they were criticized nonstop.

Perhaps it was inevitable that Guerrero would eventually go down a similar path, but few expected him to do it with a canister of gasoline and a match just so he could watch it all burn.

That’s essentially what happened Wednesday. And based on how Guerrero doubled down on his comments when given a chance to clarify, I don’t think he’s fully aware of the damage done to his reputation.

Those comments, which can no longer be defended by claims that they were lost in translation, were nonsensical. Arbitration-eligible players get paid for past production. Aging athletes nearing the end of a career sometimes do, too.

Stars are different. They can use past performance as leverage, but they are paid for what they will do in the future. Guerrero is 27 years old and signed through his age-40 season. Every dollar of that contract is a bet on what comes next, and he just told everyone he doesn’t see it that way.

What he failed to realize is that prior to 2025 he was already a polarizing figure. He arrived in Toronto with a level of hype never seen before, and as a result nothing he did early on was ever good enough.

Social media, sports talk radio and my inbox were always littered with complaints about Guerrero’s weight, his apparent unwillingness to run out every ground ball, and what some viewed as child-like behaviour with home-run jackets and Gatorade showers.

I always felt most of that criticism was unfair.

I have been around Guerrero a lot these last seven years. I’ve seen the time he puts into hitting in the cage before and after games. I’ve seen the intense disappointment in his face after a big loss. I’ve also been around athletes who didn’t care and Guerrero isn’t one of them, which is what makes his latest comments so discouraging, regardless of the intent.

No, I don’t think this is like when Vince Carter told everyone he was done dunking with the Raptors. I also don’t believe Guerrero meant he no longer cares whether or not he hits 40 home runs. I think he said what he said because the contract is weighing heavily on his mind, and he’s searching for ways to justify it while trying to maintain some semblance of confidence.

Even so, it was an extremely bad look for a player whose motto is “Born ready” and won’t be easily forgiven. The haters have been given all the fuel they need to continue on, and his supporters — well, they are running out of energy to defend him.

Guerrero’s comments this week could stick to him for the rest of his career. The only thing that will make them go away is if he goes out and has an MVP-calibre season that makes everyone forgive and forget.

If that doesn’t happen, the complaints are only going to increase and the smattering of boos will continue to grow in volume every time he hits into a double-play.

It didn’t have to be like this, but Guerrero created this mess on his own and now he’s the only one who can clean it up. If he thought there was pressure on him this season, just wait until next year.

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Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on X: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca.