Blue Jays fans….Its time to rejoice. After so much tension, question marks, rumours, and everything else in between regarding Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the possibility of a contract extension, it’s finally been done. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is a Blue Jay for life. It was announced between last Friday and Saturday that the negotiations between Vladdy and the Jay’s organization picked up once again, and that they were becoming seriously close to lifelong extension. Although the tweets were looking like it could really be happening, these rumours were abundant all throughout free agency  and fans couldn’t be 100 per cent certain. That was until it was officially announced that the Jays had come to an agreement with Guerrero on a 14-year, $500 million contract extension, pending a physical evaluation.

The homegrown talent, the prodigy, the legacy of Vladimir Guerrero Sr. has committed himself to the team that brought him up from the very beginning, to everything he is now, and will be synonymous with everything he does in the future. I previously wrote about what the implications could be like, if the Jays were unable to come to an agreement with Guerrero before this upcoming off-season, and just how serious locking up Vladdy for the future meant to the team. That article can be found here.

All of the worry and stress about Vladdy having a career year and jumping ship to a divisional rival are over, and fans can all exhale and breath easy at last. Guerrero signs the third largest contract in MLB history, only behind Shohei Ohtani and Juan Soto, and the second highest contract with guaranteed money (only behind Soto) meaning no money will be differed past his contract. The deal will be paying Vladdy over $35.7 million per year over those 14 years, and Toronto has locked up their superstar first baseman for the next decade and a half. The truth is, Guerrero Jr. isn’t even at the peak of his powers yet, and he’s shown already he has the potential to be one of, if not the best power hitters in the entire league. The hype around him is completely warranted, and sure at the back half of the deal it may seem like a complete overpay, I mean when have we ever seen a 38-39 year old baseball player be worth over $35 million before? But I truly believe that the decline that Guerrero will inevitably face when this contract starts to come to an end, will be worth it a thousand times over for value he will bring to the team for the decade he’s in Toronto at his ultimate peak.

Now that this deal is done, Guerrero can more properly focus himself on the game, and though he hasn’t been delivering the power at the plate most expect from him, I would not be surprised if he turns that right around soon, maybe even as soon as the Blue Jay’s next series against Boston.

Toronto should feel excited for what they have now, and Edward Rogers should feel proud for making Blue Jays baseball feel like they are a big market franchise. Going from the times where Toronto wasn’t a big enough market to keep marquee guys like Carlos Delgado around, to being able to come into the season with the fifth highest payroll in baseball and dishing out a $500 million contract, The Blue Jays are starting to really look like top dogs in baseball. All that’s left to do for this group, is to start getting the results they expect on the field.