The Toronto Blue Jays seem quite far away on a contract extension with Vladimir Guerrero Jr and the reason why finally seems to be coming to light.
Guerrero recently told the media in an interview that he has told the Blue Jays front office exactly how much he is looking for in his next contract but admitted that they have come nowhere close to the number he is looking for.
The reports suggest that the Jays have offered $340 million and Guerrero's response has loosely been: Get back to me when you have $100 million more on the table and we can start to talk. -Longley
The reasoning behind why the Blue Jays won't match Vladimir Guerrero Jr's number finally starting to come out
The Blue Jays made Guerrero an offer around $340 million earlier this off-season but that is unfortunately miles away from what he is looking for and they have yet to make a second offer since he told them the number he wants.
Fans cannot seem to understand why the Blue Jays will not simply give Guerrero what he is looking for as he will surely get that number in free agency but it seems to be because they do not think he is worth the money or the type of player that deserves that type of contract.
Maybe the Jays don't see him as the franchise type player that he was long purported to be and don't see the value in a long-term deal. Letting walk for next to nothing is lunacy, of course, though a trade is always a possibility. -Longley
Clearly the Blue Jays misplayed their hand when it comes to Guerrero as they thought there was no chance he would leave and that they could lowball him but it seems like they were completely wrong.
Perhaps the Jays have misplayed the Guerrero game from the start, eschewing opportunities to lock him up on a multi-year deal because they believed he wouldn't want to go anywhere else. -Longley
Atkins still seems interested in signing him to a contract extension but it looks like he believes that he could still sign Guerrero on a discount even though the all-star first baseman has made it clear that will not happen.