MLB insider gives encouraging news on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s future with Blue Jays

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has said multiple times that he wants to be a Blue Jay for life. While that might seem like a pipe dream now due to his looming free agency, a new report from MLB Insider Jim Bowden makes it seem as if Guerrero's comments will hold a lot of weight as he enters free agency.

Making Guerrero a Blue Jay for life won't be easy given the reported asking price for his contract, but it seems as if Toronto will have just as good of a chance as the other 29 MLB teams to get Guerrero's services.

New report offers hope for Toronto's free agent pursuit of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

In a new article for The Athletic, Bowden listed the top 10 landing spots for Guerrero (subscription required), with the Blue Jays topping the list at No. 1.

"Guerrero said he wants to be a Blue Jay for life — and I think he means it. He’s a Canadian citizen and has spent his entire professional career with the Blue Jays since debuting at age 17 with Rookie-level Bluefield in the Appalachian League," Bowden writes.

Guerrero was born in Montreal while his father was playing for the Expos, and, in many ways, is the First Son of Canadian baseball.

But it seems like the biggest roadblock for the Blue Jays pursuit of Guerrero will be money (or lack thereof) that was offered during Guerrero's negotiations with Toronto's front office.

"[Juan] Soto’s record-breaking  $765 million contract with the Mets changed the game for free agents in their mid-20s," writes Bowden. "I think that deal made it impossible for Toronto to negotiate an extension with Guerrero over the past few months. To make matters worse, the fact that the Blue Jays had offered both Shohei Ohtani and Soto north of $700 million and then held back the dollars in their talks with Guerrero didn’t play well within his camp, which is understandable. Again, Guerrero made it clear in Tuesday’s press conference that the two sides weren’t “close” on a deal.

It's no surprise that Soto's record-breaking contract changed things for Guerrero (as it likely will for all top-tier free agents). While Ohtani got $700 million from the Dodgers, he's in a different category as a two-way player.

Soto and Guerrero aren't similar in every way, but there's enough there for Guerrero to feel that he could use that contract as a legitimate argument for why his contract should be in the $400 million range.

Elsewhere, Bowden listed the Red Sox as the No. 2 landing place, citing his strong stats at Fenway Park (1.054 career OPS there) and reports that he'd be interested in playing there.

The Yankees and Mets came in third and fourth, respectively, while the Rangers rounded out the top five.

The rest of the top 10 consisted of the Giants, Cubs, Nationals, Mariners and Angels.

Guerrero's failure to reach a contract with the front office was arguebly the biggest blow in the past two years. While Toronto finishing runners-up to Ohtani and Soto stung, this is different. Guerrero is the current face of the franchise, a prized possession among Canadian baseball circles and a player who has seemingly loved every moment he's been in Toronto.

The Blue Jays had a six year head start on making sure that Guerrero could be a Blue Jay for life and failed. Now, if they want to do it, it'll come down to an eight month sprint against 29 other teams.