Opinion | Vladdy’s cringeworthy entitlement will haunt him for a long time - Toronto Star

A letter writer says Vlad Guerrero Jr. can expect a rough ride next season from the fans for recent comments he made regarding his $500-million contract.

Blue Jay Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sets off a media firestorm at the worst possible moment, Sept. 23

Unfortunately for the Blue Jays’ Vlad Guerrero Jr., his cringeworthy controversial quote (“The money they paid me wasn’t for what I’m going to do. It’s for what I already did.”) — which he actually reaffirmed when given a chance to explain — will overshadow his accomplishments for the rest of his life.

That quote now joins the list of the most emblematic statements made by a fabulously wealthy and privileged person that reveals a shocking lack of character and outsized sense of entitlement.

Someone needs to put a banner in the dugout with Joe Dimaggio’s answer when a reporter asked why he plays so hard: “Because there is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first time. I owe him my best.”

Vlad Guerrero Jr.‘s recent interview stating the $500-million (U.S.) contract he signed was for what he “already did” not for “what I am going to do” will be hard to swallow by fans and Blue Jays brass alike.

Anybody in their right mind would realize the half-billion deal was in anticipation of the best yet to come. Well, his offensive numbers were dismal and his home power all but evaporated this season. On top of that he hit into 20 double plays, fourth-worst in the majors this year.

I hope (since he can afford it) he hires the best hitting coaches this off-season to master the art of adjusting to pitchers who have adjusted to him. He might also work on sprinting hard in 90-foot bursts to first base.

Blue Jay fans were gentle toward him this season, but not so much next year. Guerrero would have been mercilessly booed this year had he played in New York or Philadelphia.

Also, time to lose the boring and childlike post-game Gatorade dunkings.

I was very disappointed in Vladdy’s recent observation his $500-million contract was based on what he has done in the past.

While disconcerting, I think it’s important to note what he said is unfortunately the truth in Major League Baseball and most professional sports today.

The owners, desperate for a winning team, offer exorbitant contracts to players based on what they have achieved in the past with the hope it will continue in the future. If that player disappoints and does not deliver as expected they can continue to cash in their big paycheque with no consequences whatsoever.

In reality, they are being paid for the past, not the present.

Well, as a long time Blue Jays fan I have seen ticket prices increase considerably over the years to the point where it has become unaffordable for a family of four to attend a game.

I understand it’s the owners who are responsible for this craziness, but it’s the paying customers that ultimately pay the price.

I’m a longtime Ontario Liberal strategist. Here’s how my party can save itself, Sept. 8

As the Ontario Liberal Party looks to rebuild, selecting Navdeep Bains as its next leader would be a mistake.

Ontarians need a leader who can immediately hold the Doug Ford government accountable inside Queen’s Park. Choosing Bains — a former federal minister who currently lacks a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario — repeats the exact structural flaw that doomed the party’s two previous leaders, Steven Del Duca and Bonnie Crombie.

Leading from the sidelines leaves a party invisible in daily debate and severely outmatched on the legislative floor.

Meta bans another Toronto performer from Instagram and Facebook, saying an old photo of dancers in bikinis promotes harm, Sept. 25

The Star report on how Meta/Facebook cancels accounts for no good reason is both alarming and dangerous for democracy.

My Facebook account was cancelled a year ago for no good reason, other than saying I had violated community standards. But I was not told what community standard I had violated.

I was also informed I could appeal my case if I sent Facebook a recent headshot and proof of identity in the form of pictures of my driver’s licence, passport, marriage certificate, official name change paperwork, voter ID, tribal ID, status card, immigration papers, tax identification card and Visa.

Considering Facebook sells this kind of information to advertisers and unknown buyers to boost their billion-dollar profits, I didn’t want to send my personal information to the AI machine giving me orders.

So I lost my Facebook account, for no good reason, and I also lost 10 years of work I had spent building a community of friends, with no real means of finding out why.

For this reason I now hate Facebook, and hope someday Canada will create its own social media network, manned by people with bigger hearts and saner heads than the billionaires who run Facebook.

Poll finds some support for private airport operators, but more than a quarter unsure, Sept. 24

While polls are useful when the respondents are well-versed in the issues, I doubt this is the case with the poll on airport privatization cited in the article.

Airlines make decisions to their route structure based on the viability of a service, not the management structure of airports. A city of a 100,000 people cannot expect to have the same route structure as a city of 500,000, or several millions as is case in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA).

Airport privatization will have little, if any, influence over airlines’ decisions.

In 2025 Air Canada expanded with over 30 news routes. And a few weeks ago, it announced more expansion with new services to Guangzhou, China from its trans-Pacific hub in Vancouver; to Oslo, Shanghai and Guatemala City from its global hub in Toronto; and to Basel, Switzerland; Dubrovnik, Croatia from Montreal. None of these would be viable direct routes from smaller cities or perhaps even from the hubs on their own.

As for the impact on costs? System-wide airport and navigation fees comprised only about 7 per cent of Air Canada’s total operating expenses in 2025.

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