In an attempt to sign star first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the Toronto Blue Jays have made another offer to the slugger in the past 24 hours, sources tell ESPN’s Buster Olney.
A gap still remains between the two sides, and it’s unclear whether there will be more talks in the immediate future to reach a deal, sources added.
Guerrero, whose contract expires after this season and will be eligible for free agency in the fall, had set a deadline to reach a deal for the first day of spring training and made it clear that he had a specific number that he wanted the Blue Jays to reach.
The 26-year-old fan favorite told ESPN earlier this month that the last contract extension proposal his representatives presented to the team before his Feb. 17 deadline fell short of $600 million, and reports said the two sides were roughly $50 million apart.
Team president Mark Shapiro said March 20 that he was still optimistic in signing Guerrero, who has played his entire career with the Blue Jays, and keeping him off the free agent market.
“I think we’re going to sign him. I think we’re going to extend him,” Shapiro told reporters. “We have such a clear alignment on the desired outcome.
“Vlad wants to play his whole career as a Toronto Blue Jay. We want him to end his career in a Blue Jays uniform and be a true legacy player for the Toronto Blue Jays. That’s a pretty good place to start.”
Guerrero echoed Shapiro’s sentiments at the time, saying he remained “optimistic” as well.
“I’ve always felt good about the whole thing,” Guerrero said. “I’m good with that. Just going to keep working very hard and be optimistic, too. Not going to shut the door on them.
“… I’m going to leave that to my agents to work with that. If there’s something there, they’re going to continue to work with that. I’m just going to be on the field, focusing on my teammates, on my team, on my game.”
Information from Field Level Media was used in this report.
