Breaking down the Blue Jays’ 2025 payroll after Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s arbitration salary

Over the last few days, the Blue Jays have seen their payroll get shaken up a bit, which makes the total picture look much different than it did a week prior (though still not up to the lofty standards set by the Jays' Juan Soto offer).

This shakeup came after the Jays avoided arbitration with multiple players and signed top-tier reliever Jeff Hoffman. One of the most important agreements to avoid arbitration in all of baseball involved getting a contract for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. secured, which represented a massive change to the Jays' official current payroll.

What does the Blue Jays payroll look like after monster Vladimir Guerrero Jr. signing and other moves?

Guerrero Jr. is now the highest paid player on the team at $28.5 million for the 2025 season. As this was just the pre-arbitration settlement, he is still set for a massive payday when he either agrees to an extension or hits free agency. He is very well deserving of a jump in salary after posting a wRC+ of 165 and an OPS of .940 in 2024.

Behind him, George Springer, Kevin Gausman, and Chris Bassitt are all making $22 million or more. There have been reports that the Blue Jays might move on from Bassitt, but he is currently still holding a big chunk of money in Toronto.

Jose Berrios and Bo Bichette are both making slightly under $20 million, but another one of those two players could be on the move soon too. Bichette's name has been circling around trade rumors, even after a poor 2024 season.

Winter Meetings acquisiton Andres Giménez sits alongside reliever Chad Green in the near-$10 million range. After that is Daulton Varsho, who just got a pay increase to $8.2 million, and recently signed Jeff Hoffman, who will be around the $7.6 million range for 2025.

There are a handful of players whose salaries sit below the big ticket names in the low millions, but these are the significant names on the payroll. According to Spotrac, Toronto's payroll for 2025 is currently at $192.5 million. After their public bidding on Soto, we expect that it should be significantly higher, even after potential trades of Bassitt and Bichette.

There is still a bit of time until spring training, and there are still various free agents out there that could sign with Toronto and help the Rogers family fulfill their payroll promises.