Blue Jays extending Vladdy is more important than just keeping a franchise player

There are few teams with a longer offseason to-do list than the Toronto Blue Jays this winter. The club has to extend a superstar, sign a superstar in free agency, completely revamp their bullpen and add some power to their lineup. Easy peasy.

At the heart of their pending tasks is an extension for Vladimir Guerrero Jr., the face of their franchise. There's no doubt that the Jays need to keep Guerrero at the center of their organization for the rest of his career, especially after the outstanding season he just finished putting together.

As recently pointed out by MLB.com's Keegan Matheson, a long-term contract for Guerrero means a lot more than simply the Blue Jays having him around for the foreseeable future.

Keeping Guerrero around shows Blue Jays fans that they're serious about getting their squad back to the promised land. It does the very same thing for free agents who could be considering picking Toronto as their next home for either the short- or long-term future. The Blue Jays feel like fits for any of Anthony Santander, Juan Soto, Jurickson Profar, Alex Bregman, Travis d'Arnaud and a whole slew of free-agent pitchers.

Extending Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has a deep meaning for the Blue Jays

Getting Guerrero locked up would show all of them that the Blue Jays mean business. For years now, the organization has played it too safe and missed out on the big fish because of it. Nobody needs a reminder about what happened just last offseason, but here's a refresher in case you do: The Jays were reportedly one of the finalists to land Shohei Ohtani, perhaps one of the best free agents the game has ever and will ever see.

Of course, we all know how that story ended. They came up short. There was no way they were going to top the Dodgers' $700 million offer, but the fact remains that they could have. This time around, Soto is the best-available piece and if MLB insider Hector Gomez is to be believed, the Blue Jays have a shot at bringing him aboard this winter.

Guerrero, 25, has cemented his name into the conversation of a top-10 talent in the game today. Any free agent, Soto included, would love the chance to line up alongside Guerrero every night. Just this past season, the six-year veteran recorded 44 doubles, 30 home runs, 103 RBI and a career-high .323 batting average across 159 games. His 166 OPS+ came just one point short of that 2021 season where he finished runner-up in the AL MVP voting to Ohtani.

Should the Blue Jays sign Guerrero first, Soto and his representation will surely see that move as the club showing that they're serious about this push. A three-headed monster consisting of Guerrero, Bo Bichette and Soto would be arguably the best trio in the game (assuming Bichette returns to form).