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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has blossomed into one of the best hitters in baseball after making his Major League debut back in 2019. The Toronto Blue Jays superstar has been the face of the franchise since he earned his promotion to the club, as although there was speculation that 2025 could be his final season with the team, he signed a 14-year, $500,000,000 deal to remain in Toronto.
As the offseason progressed and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had yet to agree to a contract extension. rumors began to swirl about potential landing spot for the 4-time All-Star. One such destination was the New York Yankees, who were viewed as potential suitors in free agency or via the trade market.
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While the contract extension with the Toronto Blue Jays removed the possibilty of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. joining the New York Yankees at this stage of his career, the hard-hitting first baseman has always enjoyed playing in New York. In an interview before Friday's game with Meredith Marakovits of the YES Network, Guerrero Jr. explained why he has always enjoyed his time in New York.
"I grew up coming here, watching my dad playing here and to me, when we come here I feel like we are in the Dominican. There's alot of Dominican people here and I don't know, I just like playing here," Vladdy explained.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who was born in Montreal, Quebec when his father was a member of the Montreal Expos, spent a significant amount of his childhood in Santiago, Dominican Republic with his mother. According to a 2023 study, people of Dominican heritage have become to most prominent latino subculture in New York City.
Vladdy's success at Yankee Stadium continued on Friday as the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner launched his second home run of the season off New York reliever Tim Hill. The Blue Jays are going to need more performances like this if Toronto are going to secure a postseason spot this year.
Now that Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s future is settled, the attention has shifted to Bo Bichette
2025 was going to be a pivotal season in the Toronto Blue Jays history, and little had to do with the play on the field. The club came into the new year with a number of key pieces needing to sort out the MLB futures. Now that the Blue Jays have extended Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and catcher Alejandro Kirk, the attention has moved to All-Star shortstop Bo Bichette.
Bo Bichette is coming off the worst season of his career in 2024, and while he has improved at the plate, he has yet to record his first home run of the new year. A pending unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, it remains to be seen if the Blue Jays will be able to lock him up to a long-term deal or explore their options on the trade market.
