Blue Jays' first baseman may be one of the defining players of 2026

As the marathon 2025 regular season wound down, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was in desperate need of a jolt. Starting with the Toronto Blue Jays playing the New York Yankees in early September, the Blue Jays slugger simply wasn't playing like his ordinary self.

Guerrero Jr. batted .213/.273/.230 with zero home runs and a paltry 40 wRC+ over his final 16 regular season games. His production wasn't carrying the Blue Jays to the AL East division title that they won over the Yankees. Combine that with his career numbers in the postseason and there were legitimate questions about what was going on.

The story of the Blue Jays season was Guerrero Jr. turning things around and his final numbers looking pretty decent. He posted an elite .397/.494/.795 slash line through 18 playoff games, including setting a franchise record with eight postseason home runs. The good news is that fans should expect more of this going forward.

Blue Jays' first baseman may be one of the defining players of 2026

Seeing him put the team on his back was pretty special. There is a lot of pressure to perform in baseball when making a ton of money. Thankfully, Guerrero Jr. is showing no signs of caving to that pressure. The Blue Jays didn't need to win a free agency bidding war for this guy, signing him to a 14-year, $500 million contract that is only just beginning.

Will Leitch of MLB.com wrote an article in which he listed 10 players who will define the 2026 MLB season, and one of them was the Blue Jays' leader. "He’s the emotional heart of the team as well as, of course, a guy with thunder in his bat. Is he going to return to near-MVP form? After that World Series, this would be a wonderful time for it."

Plus, he's only 26 years old. It certainly feels like he is a lot older. Julio Rodriguez, Elly De La Cruz, Paul Skenes are the only other players on this list who are younger than Guerrero Jr. Juan Soto is five months older even though Soto has been in the majors a little longer. Skenes won the 2025 NY Cy Young Award in just his second season. De La Cruz is the beating heart of a Cincinnati Reds club that made the postseason while Rodriguez played against the Blue Jays in the ALCS.

Speaking of Soto, imagine how much money Guerrero Jr. would have commanded on the free agent market this winter? Soto's youth was one of the biggest reasons he landed a contract in excess of $700 million. Thank goodness the Blue Jays signed their star player at a relative discount.

The Blue Jays took a calculated gamble and this postseason performance demonstrates that he is worth every penny. Acquiring players in the free agent market will cost astronomical amounts of money, but the sport is printing money and the Blue Jays deftly read the market.