Today was a celebration of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s future with the Blue Jays

Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s contract extension with the Blue Jays was one of the biggest wins in the history of Canadian baseball.

Guerrero's been in Canada's baseball zeitgeist for years thanks to his dad's production while with the Montreal Expos, but that presence hit a new level when Guerrero made his MLB debut for the Blue Jays in 2019 to kick open the Blue Jays next contention window.

And while Guerrero's relationship with Canada's baseball fans became a bit strained during his lengthy contract standoff with the Blue Jays, the two parties were eventually able to come together on a 14-year, $500 million contract that will make Guerrero a Blue Jay for life.

And they celebrated that development with a press conference that's been years in the making.

Today was a celebration of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s future with the Blue Jays

On Monday, the Blue Jays held a press conference for Guerrero where he officially put pen to paper for his contract. He was draped by President Mark Shapiro, General Manager Ross Atkins and Edward Rogers, the executive chairman of Rogers Communications.

After signing his contract, Guerrero put a Blue Jays jersey on over his pink and black suit and spoke about his love for Canada.

"This is like my second home," Guerrero said. "When a country gives you love, you've got to give that love back."

And that love was tangible on the podium thanks to the presence of Rogers, who reminded Guerrero that the team has "41 million fans rooting for him."

Rogers even took it a step further, saying that he believes the team is going to win the World Series at some point in the next 14 years.

It also ends a long and drawn out process that neither side handled perfectly. Guerrero set a self-imposed deadline of Feb. 18 to end contract talks... only to continue to have talks throughout spring training and the start of the season.

And on the other side, the front office tried to save some face publicly, but never said anything that made it seem like they were fully behind Guerrero.

But all that is in the past now.

"This is an incirebdly speical day for all of our fans and the organziation," Shapiro. "The fans have embraced the joy and passion [Guerrero] brings to the ballpark with him every single time he takes the field, which impacts our team."

And his contract will allow for him to have more of an impact on the field.

Guerrero's contract includes a $325 million signing bonus, which will allow for the Blue Jays to continue to financially support other parts of the roster while also retaining one of the most important players in franchise history.

It also allows for Guerrero to have a contract that's worth $500 million in present day value, which was a big sticking point for him.

"It's an honor to be up here with Vlad," Atkins said. "You began your time here [it's an honor] to know that you'll finish your time here."

For a long time, it seemed like Toronto's front office was set to let Guerrero hit free agency, but instead they managed to turn things around and ink Guerrero to a contract that will make him a Blue Jay for life.

And while winning a press conference doesn't gurantee winning in the future, Toronto baseball fans can now turn on Blue Jays games knowing the best player on the team will be with the team long term, which is a huge win.