Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Blue Jays did not agree on a contract extension before Guerrero’s self-imposed start of spring training deadline, which means Guerrero will hit free agency after this season — leaving open an incredibly intriguing possibility for the Mets.
When Guerrero was asked Tuesday morning by reporters whether he and the Jays came close to a deal, his succinct reply was “no.”
“They had their numbers,” Guerrero said. “I had my numbers.”
Guerrero added: “I’m here. We didn’t get an agreement. Now, they’re going to have to compete with 29 other teams.”
Of those 29 other teams, the Mets could loom large.
Before agreeing to a two-year deal with Pete Alonso that contains an opt-out after the 2025 season, the Mets engaged the Blue Jays on trade talks for Guerrero, SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino reported during the offseason.
“He’s a great ballplayer,” Steve Cohen said Tuesday morning when asked about Guerrero. “Once again, I’ll worry about that next year. Obviously with payroll considerations — you really can’t have, you can’t have too many long-term contracts because then you lose your roster flexibility. So you gotta be really careful. But I’ll let my baseball people make that decision.”
Now, the Mets will be able to compete with Toronto and every other interested team in about eight months if they so choose.
Guerrero will be entering his age-27 season in 2026, meaning he falls in the age range of the kind of star players the Mets have gone after recently in free agency under president of baseball operations David Stearns, including Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Juan Soto.
The Soto deal being on the Mets’ books for the next 15 seasons at an average annual value just north of $50 million could potentially lead them to be more choosy about the kinds of long-term deals they give out.
At the same time, the Mets’ books are in strong shape to absorb another megadeal.
Their current 40-man payroll for luxury tax purposes is around $327 million, but they have just $260.8 million committed for 2026. In 2027, that number dips to $193.8 million, and in 2028 it plummets to $126 million.
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