Latest news with #Vladdy
Hamilton Spectator
9 hours ago
- Sport
- Hamilton Spectator
Blue Jays vs. Red Sox: Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s surprise appearance gets the ball rolling in Boston
The Blue Jays went into Boston and put a beating on the Red Sox, rolling to a 9-0 win — their second straight shutout — at Fenway Park on Friday night. Here's what you need to know: Lost in the offensive outburst was a brilliant outing by José Berríos. The right-hander threw seven innings of four-hit shutout, while striking out eight against only one walk in picking up his fourth win of the season. He allowed only two runners as far as second base. The Jays built an early picket fence with single runs in each of the first three innings, then tacked on a bunch late. George Springer and Andrés Giménez had three hits each, and Ernie Clement reached base five times with two singles and three walks. Last-minute Vladdy Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was not in the original starting lineup after exiting Thursday's game in Cleveland with a right forearm contusion , the result of being hit by a pitch in that spot for the second time in four plate appearances. But about an hour before the game, Guerrero was inserted into the lineup and contributed immediately with a two-out single in the first inning. He quickly stole second and scored the game's first run on a Springer single. Clement's impact Clement also made a big early impact, going into the third-base camera bay to haul in a foul pop-up by Jarren Duran to begin the bottom of the first. He led off the second with a walk and eventually scored on a Bo Bichette single, blowing through third-base coach Carlos Febles' stop sign, then singled in a run in the third. The 29-year-old is hitting .406 over his past 26 games. No relief The Red Sox turned to Brennan Bernardino with two on in the seventh inning and trailing 4-0, but he didn't provide much relief. The left-hander issued an intentional walk to Clement to load the bases, then walked Giménez to force in a run. In the eighth, Bernardino gave up two singles and issued two more walks. All four runners wound up scoring, the last two on a Giménez single off Jorge Alcala. JanetInYYC found me @wilnerness on Bluesky to ask: 'Is Bo the best leadoff hitter? He swings at the first pitch so often which seems antithetical to the leadoff role.' It's true, Janet, he does, but not as much as you think, I'll bet. This season, Bichette has swung at the first pitch in 33.8 per cent of his plate appearances. We think of the first batter as someone who takes a lot of pitches, works an at-bat and walks a ton. Bo doesn't do two of those things. But while Bichette doesn't walk much, he is often a very tough out. He tends to extend his at-bats by fouling off a bucket of balls, some of which are off the plate, rather than taking close pitches and staying disciplined. Going into Friday's game, Bichette was seeing an average of 3.58 pitchers per plate appearance, slightly below the major-league average of 3.87. Springer is the only Blue Jay above average at 3.97, but he has settled beautifully into the middle of the order. It should be noted, though, that when Bichette puts the first pitch in play he is a career .363 hitter, so it seems to be working pretty well for him.
Time of India
09-05-2025
- Sport
- Time of India
'Is as good as Vladdy'- MLB insider makes a bold claim about Kyle Tucker's speculated extension with Cubs
'Is as good as Vladdy'- MLB insider makes a bold claim about Kyle Tucker's speculated extension with Cubs (Image Source: Getty) With the Chicago Cubs putting on a stellar show during the 2025 MLB season, Kyle Tucker has been diverting attention towards himself. The speculations around the extension deal between the Chicago Cubs and their left fielder have been doing the rounds of the MLB fraternity. Recently a reputed MLB analyst compared Kyle Tucker's value with Toronto Blue Jays' first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Operation Sindoor 'Did not want to...': Pak def min gives absurd excuse for army's failure to withstand Op Sindoor Blackouts, sirens & Pak's failed attacks: 10 things that happened in the last 36 hrs '1971 war was not remotely as terrifying': Residents of border areas shell-shocked while talking about the much-awaited extension deal between the Cubs and their popular left fielder. MLB analyst Bob Nightengale makes a bold prediction about Kyle Tucker's speculated extension deal with the Cubs With the Chicago Cubs leading the American League Central division, it is evident that Kyle Tucker and company are here for some serious show. Tucker was added to the Cubs' roster with a $16.5 million contract for the 2025 MLB season. During the ongoing season, the Cubs' right fielder not only helped the MLB team make its way to the top of the table but also diverted all the cameras with his brilliant flamboyance on the field. During a recent appearance on the SportsNet Blair and Balker show, reputed MLB insider Bob Nightengale was quite optimistic about Kyle Tucker's speculated extension deal with the Cubs. He said, 'I would have said less than 50/50, like 30 percent, before the season started. Now I think it's' 50/50, maybe even 60/40, that he remains a Cub. There's a lot of pressure on ownership.' Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like The Most Gorgeous Female Athletes Ranked-But Did We Get It Right? Learn More Undo While talking about Tucker's free agency after the 2025 MLB season, Nightingale went on to compare the Cubs star with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. He said, 'He wanted $300 million from the Astros. After seeing what Vladdy got, you've got to say Tucker is as good as Vladdy. I would think he'd be somewhere in that range.' As mentioned by Bob Nightengale, if the Toronto Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can be subjected to a half-billion contract with his previous team, then there is a strong possibility for a great extension deal with respect to the Cubs' Kyle Tucker too. Also Read: Uncertainty looms over Dodgers' $2 million pitching star after being defeated by Cubs
New York Times
11-04-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Will Vlad Jr. join his dad in the Hall of Fame? How his early career numbers stack up
Editor's note: This is a bonus Weird and Wild column. To read more Weird and Wild from the past week, go here and here. The Vladimir Guerrero Jr. number you've been hearing all week is 500 million — which is how many dollars the Toronto Blue Jays are going to be depositing in his money market fund over the next 14 years. But how'd you like to peruse some other numbers? Advertisement Here's why: Because Vladdy has a real chance to make it to the Hall of Fame. And that's something to think about — since he has a father, Vlad Guerrero Sr., who is already in the Hall of Fame. And you know what we've never seen in the history of this sport? A father and son who both made it into the Hall of Fame as players. But Vladdy has put himself into position to make that possible — and to do it as the face of his franchise. What makes us think so? Here's what. He's already done so much — Last year was Vlad Jr.'s age-25 season. When he finished it, he already had 160 career homers. Did you know … of all the Hall of Fame position players whose careers began in the expansion era (1961-present), only two of them had more home runs at that age: Ken Griffey Jr. (189) and Johnny Bench (179). Then there's this: You'd be amazed by all the Hall of Famers who weren't even close to Vladdy through age 25. Like these guys, for instance: (*still hadn't come over from Japan) Do we forget how young Vladdy still is? It feels like Vlad Guerrero Jr. has been around for almost as long as Andrew McCutchen. Nope. This guy just turned 26 three weeks ago. It's wild to think he's still younger than … Griffin Conine JJ Bleday Spencer Horwitz Josh Smith Josh Lowe Michael Busch Luken Baker And many, many, many other hitters who feel as if they're just starting their careers. Father vs. son — And finally, let's see where Vladdy compares with his dad at the same age (through their age-25 seasons). It's eye-opening. (WAR is according to Baseball Reference) Now we can't predict the future. We don't know if Vlad Jr. is going to get another 2,000 hits over these next 14 years — or 2,000 days on the injured list. We don't know if he's going to age like his dad — who was still making All-Star teams at 35 — or like Darryl Strawberry, who never had 2-WAR season after 29. But we're talking about a guy with a chance to write a special story — for two generations of Guerreros. I can't wait to see how it turns out. GO DEEPER Baseball Hall of Fame tiers: Which active players are on course for Cooperstown?
CBC
26-03-2025
- Business
- CBC
Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s murky future looms over the new Blue Jays season
Kind of like that old saying about real estate, the 2025 Toronto Blue Jays season will be all about three things: Vladdy, Vladdy, Vladdy. Sure, the Jays would like to return to the playoffs after missing out last season with a dismal 74-88 record that put them dead last in the American League East. And, who knows, maybe their off-season roster tweaks will pay off, the stars will align, and they'll make that happen. That would be great. But, unless and until the Jays sign franchise cornerstone Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a big new contract to prevent him from hitting free agency this fall, the main topic of conversation around the Jays will continue to be whether Vladdy is staying or leaving. With so much of Toronto's future hinging on the answer to that question, every win or loss this season will be viewed through the prism of whether it helps convince Guerrero (and, to a lesser extent, fellow homegrown star Bo Bichette) to re-up with the Jays or pushes him toward the door. What's new at Rogers Centre ahead of the Jays home opener 2 days ago Duration 2:30 Here's where things stand as the Jays prepare for their Opening Day matchup with visiting Baltimore on Thursday afternoon: Guerrero appears set to test free agency at the end of the year after cutting off negotiations with the Jays upon his arrival at spring training last month. The 26-year-old first baseman, who was the AL MVP runner-up in 2021, when he swatted a career-high 48 home runs, and finished sixth in MVP voting last year after hitting .323/.396/.544 with 30 homers and 103 RBIs, said at the time (through an interpreter) that he wanted "to be a Blue Jay for the rest of my career." But, he added, "it's business, so I'm going to have to listen to 29 more teams." Guerrero is reportedly seeking a 14-year deal for $500 million US. In present-day dollars, that would be the second-largest contract in baseball history — behind only the 15-year, $765M deal that Juan Soto signed with the New York Mets in December after helping the cross-town Yankees reach the World Series. Shohei Ohtani's 10-year, $700M deal with the Los Angeles Dodgers is 97 per cent deferred, making it worth "only" about $460 million in today's money. In terms of average annual value, a 14-year, $500M deal would work out to $35.71M per year. That's more than $15M below Soto's average salary, more than $10M below Ohtani's adjusted figure, and would rank 12th all-time. Sounds fairly reasonable (as far as $500M for playing a sport goes), and the Blue Jays reportedly met Guerrero's raw asking price. However, deferrals in the offer brought it down to about $450M in today's money, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. Yes, $50 million is a lot of money to you and me. But, as Davidi points out, that works out to less than $3.6M per season over 14 years. The Jays are paying more than that to Myles Straw, a 30-year-old stopgap outfielder who hit one home run over the last three years. And what's even $50M to a team that will pay an estimated $240M-plus in player salaries this year alone and just spent hundreds of millions more to upgrade its stadium? Look, nobody wants to overpay for anything. But Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins are taking a big risk by not locking Guerrero up before his walk year. If he has another big season, Guerrero's asking price will probably go up — maybe way up. And even if he regresses back toward his not-so-great 2022 and '23 levels, you have to think other teams will still be willing to take a shot on a prime-age star with a 48-homer season and an MVP runner-up under his belt. If Guerrero does bolt, Toronto could be facing a long rebuild due to its inability to land top-shelf free agents. The Jays at least acted like big players in the market over the last two winters, making competitive offers to the most coveted stars. But they struck out on Ohtani and Soto, and also whiffed on Plan B options like Corbin Burnes and Japanese pitcher Roki Sasaki this off-season. Instead, the jilted Jays settled for flawed slugger Anthony Santander, fading star pitcher Max Scherzer and closer Jeff Hoffman. Reliever Yimi Garcia is back after being traded to Seattle last July, but the Jays couldn't pull the same trick with lefty starter Yusei Kikuchi, who signed with the Angels after Toronto dealt him to Houston as part of their trade-deadline selloff last July. Santander (signed to a five-year, $92.5M US deal) is a 30-year-old switch-hitting outfielder who bashed a career-high 44 homers last season for Baltimore. That ranked third in the majors, trailing only Aaron Judge (58) and Ohtani (54) — the AL and NL MVPs. But Santander's on-base percentage was just .308 (compared to .458 and .390 for Judge and Ohtani) and he's not strong defensively. Scherzer (one year, $15.5M) is a three-time Cy Young winner and future Hall of Famer. Problem is, that future is near. Mad Max turns 41 in July and missed most of last season with Texas due to back, shoulder and hamstring injuries. In spring training, he was bothered by a thumb issue. Another newcomer to watch is Alan Roden, a 2022 third-round draft pick who's set for his major-league debut after making the team with a dynamite spring training. The 25-year-old outfielder hit a ridiculous (even for spring) .423/.556/.731 in the Grapefruit League and should see the field right away as centre-fielder Daulton Varsho completes his rehab from shoulder surgery. for this season.
