AL West contenders “aggressively pursuing” Vladimir Guerrero Jr. as deadline looms

As the Toronto Blue Jays head into the trade deadline, they hold many valuable pieces in which contenders will be pursuing. Among the cream of the crop is none other than Jays’ superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The four-time All-Star has previously taken home a Silver Slugger and Gold Glove award, showing that he could get things done on both sides of the field. Not to mention that he also once finished runner-up to Shohei Ohtani for AL MVP honours.

Rumors have been swirling that the Seattle Mariners having been “aggressively pursuing” the 25-year-old star, according to MLB insider Jon Heyman. Heyman indicated that the Blue Jays would “need to be blown away” by the potential offer that the Mariners were willing to put up. Nonetheless, he believed that the Mariners were very serious about trying to acquire his services, even after their trade for Yimi Garcia from Friday afternoon.

It certainly makes total sense for the Mariners. After all, they had just recently designated first baseman Ty France for assignment, which has left a huge hole at first as a result. Getting Guerrero would not only provide a significant upgrade to the position, but also further lengthen their lineup which only has Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh as their main offensive contributors on a daily basis. Especially now with Rodríguez recently placed on the 10-day IL with a high ankle sprain, it couldn’t come at a better time than now.

As for Guerrero, he has astonishingly turned his season around in recent months after starting off slow coming out of the gate in 2024. In 102 games to date, he has posted a solid .297 batting average, .858 OPS, along with 53 runs scored, 21 doubles, 18 home runs and 62 RBI. With the ability to be a consistent 30-homer, 100-RBI man each season, he would drastically alter the makeup of the Mariners’ daily lineup and would no doubt make them sudden favourites to capture the AL West division title.