Toronto Blue Jays Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Joins Rare Club of Ex-Minor Leaguers

UPDATE, April 9, 2025, 2:45 p.m.

The Toronto Blue Jays made it official Wednesday, announcing the signing of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a 14-year contract that should keep him in their uniform the rest of his career.

The deal is worth $500 million, according to multiple reports.

THE. FRANCHISE.

OFFICIAL: We’ve agreed to terms with 4x All-Star, 2x Silver Slugger, 2x All-MLB First Team Member, 2x Tip O'Neill Award Winner, Hank Aaron Award Winner, and Gold Glover Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 14-year contract extension! pic.twitter.com/BKGkidltw1
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 9, 2025

And if the Blue Jays are the only team of Guerrero's career, his name will be mentioned among those of players such as Baseball Hall of Fame members Cal Ripken Jr., Tony Gwynn, Kirby Puckett and Joe Mauer -- those who played for just one franchise despite careers that took place in the free-agent era.

And that's a rare feat these days. Of the 20 highest-paid players, as listed by Spotrac, Guerrero is one of only five to have signed a lucrative, long-term deal with the team that originally signed him, the team that raised him from the rookie league to the major leagues.

The other names on that short list? Mike Trout, Rafael Devers, Aaron Judge and Bobby Witt Jr. An impressive list of homegrown players indeed.

April 7: The 14-year, $500 million deal that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays reportedly have agreed to will place him third on the list of biggest MLB contracts once signed, trailing only Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani.

The Blue Jays' goal with the contract is to keep Guerrero in their uniform for the rest of his career.

First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays are in agreement on a 14-year, $500 million contract extension, pending physical, sources tell ESPN. A monumental, no-deferral deal to keep the homegrown star in Toronto for the rest of his career.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) April 7, 2025

And when the contract is executed, he will become part of a club that is almost as rare: a homegrown player who signs a lucrative extension to remain with his team. The list of players who toiled in the minor leagues with their original teams, then signed a deal worth megamillions with that club, is short.

Of the top 20 players in terms of contract value, Guerrero would be one of only five players to ink an extension with the team that originally signed him, according to data from Spotrac.

He is set to join a group made up of: Mike Trout, selected in the first round (25th overall) of the 2009 MLB Draft by the Los Angeles Angels; Rafael Devers, signed as an international free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 2013; Aaron Judge, picked by the New York Yankees with the No. 32 overall pick in 2013; and Bobby Witt Jr., drafted No. 2 overall by the Kansas City Royals in 2019.

Guerrero was an international signing by the Blue Jays in 2019, and he is a four-time All-Star, a two-time Silver Slugger and a Gold Glove winner.

And now, fans who remember the 26-year-old’s days with the now-defunct Bluefield Blue Jays of the old rookie Appalachian League, the former Class-A Lansing Lugnuts, the Class-A Dunedin Blue Jays, the Double-A New Hampshire Fisher Cats and the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons can say they watched the multimillionaire when he was just starting out in the Blue Jays organization.

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