Blue Jays: Is the front office aggressively pursuing contract extensions?

Eyebrows were raised this week when Blue Jays superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr., in Toronto for the Winter Tour, told reporters that in terms of a long-term contract extension, “this year we haven’t had the conversations yet. I’m just going to stay focused on working hard and helping my team.”

Blue Jays General Manager Ross Atkins told reporters at his year end press conference last October 11th that the Jays planned to “continue [contract extension] talks this offseason.”

The front office obviously keeps things pretty close to the chest, but using the powers of deduction, we can assume he wasn’t referring to any of the players no longer with the team since October’s AL Wild Card series. Nor would he have been referring to players who’ve signed free agent or extension contract deals already. Breaking it down further to “a few core players” eliminates others.

The current front office has only extended two players since they were hired in the fall of 2015: Randall Grichuk (April 2019; five-years, $52M) and José Berríos (November 2021; seven-years, $131M). Both players were 27-years-old at the time of those extensions; Grichuk was in his second year of arbitration eligibility, while Berrios was in his third year. They have yet to extend any homegrown players to date.

Overlaying those players currently under age 27, their arbitration eligibility status, and who is considered to be a part of "core" would suggest that — based on the previous examples of Grichuk and Berríos — the current priorities for longer-term contract extensions should most likely be (in order of importance): Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Daulton Varsho, and then ace Alek Manoah and Alejandro Kirk, who are both currently pre-arbitration, but will both likely become arbitration eligible ahead of next season assuming full seasons of service time this year.

Are They Aggressively Pursuing Contract Extensions?

It certainly would make sense to get deals done sooner with a few younger core players. 2021 MVP fInalist and Silver Slugger, two-time All-Star and 2022 Gold Glover Guerrero has said on multiple occasions, including as recently as this week, that he’s open to extension talks; but apparently no conversations yet this year despite supposed plans to continue talks. So are the Blue Jays playing a dangerous game by not aggressively pursuing extensions with young stars like Vlad, Bo and Alek?

Of course there are still 66 days until Opening Day 2023 when the Blue Jays visit the Cardinals. Vlad and Bo won’t be free agents until after the 2025 season. Varsho and Kirk are under team control through 2026, while Manoah won’t be a free agent until after the 2027 season. There is still time, but as they say in Latin, tempus fugit — time flies!

Recent examples where the Blue Jays could have offered extensions also offer a lesson how not to do it. Starter Marcus Stroman, closer Ken Giles and 2020 rental starter Taijuan Walker all mentioned how the Blue Jays front office never even made formal contract offers. As Stroman told Rob Longley of the Toronto Sun, the Blue Jays never offered a contract extension despite GM Ross Atkins saying there were talks. “There was nothing offered ever from their perspective,” then-28-year-old Stroman said after being traded to the Mets in late July 2019.

Let’s hope there isn’t similar confusion or miscommunication around the front office’s stated intention to continue extension talks and the apparent lack of conversations yet this year with Vlad! What do you think Blue Jays fans, how aggressive should the team be in trying to sign these players to contract extensions?