“They paid me for what I already accomplished.”
Those words from Vladimir Guerrero Jr. surfaced on social media yesterday, in an interview with Veronica Batista on the Fuera de Liga show.
Guerrero is in the tail end of the worst season of his 8-year career. His disappointing campaign comes in the first full season of his lucrative, $500 million extension. A six-time All-Star, he will remain under contract with the Blue Jays through his age-40 season.
Fans did not receive his take well, to put it lightly. Specifically, Guerrero’s comments outraged Blue Jays fans, who watched their club officially fall out of playoff contention earlier that day. Considering that his first home run of 2026 at Rogers Centre came in September, his struggles have been the headline of the Blue Jays tumble.
However, Guerrero Jr. dug himself a deeper hole later that night.
He told reporters after the game, “No, I don’t regret myself. I’m not lying with what I say.” While admitting that some fans didn’t follow what he actually meant, he didn’t retract any bit of his statement. “Every player gets paid for what they have [already] done,” Guerrero doubled down.
Reactions grew more extreme, with several calling him out for a lack of urgency since signing the extension. However, in his same message to reporters, he reminded fans of his incredible 2025 Postseason performance. Because he signed his extension during the 2025 season, he’s arguing that he already shown $500 million-worthy performance. He also admitted that every time he gets out, he thinks about his contract.
So it’s not a problem of character. Guerrero Jr. is slumping; he is not playing “carelessly”. He’s swinging just as hard, striking out less and playing much better defense at first base. His expected batting average and slugging percentage are much, much higher than his actual values.
However, that doesn’t justify what Guerrero said. At its literal meaning, a contract is a projection of value for the duration of that contract. The dollar value on the player applies to the player during that contract, not before it. Technically, his statement is objectively false, but there’s a little more to it.
Guerrero’s viewpoint is that the “projection of value” is just a reflection of age and prior accomplishment. When the contract is negotiated, past performance is the standard used to judge future value. No matter what model a team uses, they have to input past data. Future data, obviously, does not exist.
So there’s two understandable viewpoints there, most would say. However, the timing viewpoint is far, far less understandable.
Not only did Guerrero state this during the season, but the video circulated on social media right after the game in which the Baltimore Orioles were eliminated from Postseason contention. Given how close Toronto came to a World Series victory in 2025, the hangover came to the surprise of all, and the extreme frustration of Blue Jays fans.
Hearing the face of the franchise downplay the importance of performing well on his current contract, Guerrero was met with extra backlash. If he revealed his opinion in the offseason, it would probably tick off only a fraction of the fans who are currently upset.
However you feel, it’s awful timing. Without a doubt, Guerrero’s 2027 season will be under the microscope of Blue Jays fans come next year.