OverDrive - Kurkjian on Guerrero Jr.'s extensive contract extension, the stature of the deal and the favourite in the AL East

Episode Date: April 7, 2025

ESPN Baseball Analyst Tim Kurkjian joined OverDrive to discuss the headlines around MLB, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s contract extension with the Blue Jays, the stature of the deal, the importance for the franchise, the Yankees' powerful bats, the AL East division favourites and more.

Listen to Tech Talk with Mark Saltzman Sundays at 5 p.m. on Newstalk 1010 and the iHeart Radio app the show that makes sense of the ever-changing world of technology and you don't need a computer degree to listen. Brought to you by LG celebrating 10 years of OLED innovation. Visit LG.ca. Here is long time ESPN MLB insider and analyst here's Tim Kirkjohn. How you doing Tim? I'm well fellas. how's it going? We're doing very well, not as well as Vladie Guerrero Jr. right now. You know, he's got a lot of money coming his way. How do you wrap your head around the idea that Vladie is now going to get, I believe, the third largest contract in Major League Baseball history? Yeah, I think this is something that the Blue Jays just had to do. You're right.

In order to show everybody that we mean business, you got to keep your own guys. Even though this will probably end up as an overpay someday, because most of these do, at some point you just have to say, we need to keep our guys, we need to build around somebody and this is the guy. We need to build around somebody. And this is the guy we're going to build around because he said all along, I want to stay here. I want to stay in Toronto. So this will be real interesting to see where this goes from here, but I don't think there's a way around it.

I think this is something that the club had to do and it's it's good for the team because they've got their Arguably their best player locked up for a long time What kind of reaction are you hearing Tim from people, you know around the league to this deal? Well, I think a lot of people feel the same way that Toronto having missed out on Otani and Soto and others needed to make a splash and they did what they had to do here. Now again, most people say Laddy is a great hitter, especially at his age. I mean, he just turned 26, got 160 home runs.

He's got a tremendous future ahead. But I think the question is, like any other question for anyone signed this long if you get a stay hungry if you get a stay in the best shape possible if you get a stay in above average defensive player is all of that going to continue to go in the right direction i think they asked that about anybody who signs a long-term contract so those were a couple questions that i heard today.

How does this affect the reputation of the front office? Ross Atkins, Mark Shapiro, they've been taking a lot of heat here in Toronto. I know you're aware of that, Tim. It's a big season for them. I think they got to win ball games. But now that they've locked this in, regardless of the dollars that we're actually talking about here, the fact that they committed to Vladdy, they got him him signed how significant do you think this is for the front office and and you know their reputation and what they're hoping to change in the future

yeah i think it's really important because uh... i'm aware that not everyone in the country is wild about way the blue jays have been run by the year ownership stepped in and that are a we're gonna do well we have to do here. And I think, again, you always need to end up paying somebody in the end, even if you have to overpay in order to move forward. So I think the front office is in better shape today than it was yesterday because they got a great player signed. Well, and in terms of, you know, what Vlad has got to do now, like the pressure I think now shifts to the player.

You got paid, that's a big price tag, there's a big commitment there. I said earlier today, I think you, when we get to 2035 and you look back on the previous decade, he has got to be a top ten offensive producer over that decade and if he does that then you can justify this contract and i think it'll be a

great contract and they'll go down as the greatest blue jay ever known every single record etcetera etcetera how likely do you think that is actually happen over the next decade bladdy is a guy that is a top-notch offensive player i think he'll be a top-notch offensive player for the next ten years and i think you're right i think he will surpass uh...

everyone on that list for home runs rb eyes as a member of blue jays and i think you're right i think the pressure is on him i know and he does not like to be embarrassed or lose or anything else and now the pressure shifts to him that is he worth this kind of money. My guess is he's gonna say I am worth it and I'm gonna show everyone. We can't forget how young he is. We can't forget his track record already just turned 26. It's pretty impressive, but he's got to have 10 more really good years in order to make this contract really work.

Tim, do you think it's possible that more teams look at deals like this and say, we got to lock up our young players as quick as possible? We saw it with Jackson Merrill the other day, Christian Campbell. Do you think this changes the equation or is this just such an outlier that it's not even comparable? No, I think most teams are doing what you said. They're taking their young guys and they're saying it's gonna cost way more if we let them get to the point where Flattie got to. So let's tie them up as quickly as possible as Jackson Merrill did and several other young guys in the last few months. It's the only way to go. But you have to make that

determination very early on. You can't wait until almost at free agent time, because by that point, the numbers have gone up sky high. With Tim Kirchens, so the timing of this is not necessarily ideal. I mean it's a celebration, it's a big contract, Vlady sticks around, but they're five and five. Vlady is still not really arrived yet offensively. He hasn't hit a home run yet, Pichette hasn't hit a home run yet, Santander hasn't hit a home run yet, they just got swept by the Mets. I'm curious what you think the blue jays could take from this and and what

bladdie we would expect to see a lot of starting a fenway tonight now that this deals out of the way and the idea that he could come alive and how significant this news could be for the clubhouse in terms of infusing some positivity for them yeah i don't think there's any doubt this will change the look and the feel in the clubhouse. I've been in those clubhouses for 45 years when everyone looks around and goes great the first baseman got paid,

let's go. That doesn't mean Vlad is gonna hit a home run every night for the next three nights at Fenway and everyone's gonna start to hit right now, but it is a tremendous burden and everyone's going to start to hit right now but it is a tremendous burden ease that we've got our guy and now let's just everyone go out there relax and play. We all recognize how hard it is to get a hit in the big leagues today. It's the hardest hitting environment I know that I've ever seen so no one should get worried or on any team if somebody hasn't hit a homer in his first 10 games. Things are gonna change. They're gonna change for the Blue Jays. They're gonna change for

Vladdy. And I've seen the American League East fellas. It's a really strong division, but there is no great team in this division. No one is gonna be good enough to win a hundred games run away. So as long as the Blue Jays can hang around and play better baseball than they played at Chase at City Field, they'll be okay. Yeah, I would agree with that as long as the Yankees don't hit about 2,000 home runs this season, which is pretty remarkable considering the pace that they're on right now. They're breaking records early into the season.

The Sox put up 18 runs last night on the Cardinals. What is your explanation or what is your read on the yankees offense so early into the year uh... and i guess boston not necessarily the same level in terms of run production but not far behind yeah the red dot to demonstrably better than they were last year is no doubt about that i did one of their games from the booth in spring training and i was thoroughly impressed with how much better they are with the additions they

made and the young guys christian campbell that made the club they are a dangerous team also did the yankee game against the brewers when they had nine home runs seven in the first three innings and they of course can be a really really good offensive team but they lost a couple of their own haven't hit a homer in two games those things can happen so I did a radio show fellas about a month ago and we picked the five of us five analysts on the show five different picks for the AL East winner this year five out of five i've never been at the foreign all the radio shows i've done

though i think that just speaks to how evenly matched the american league east is and that's why you can't count out the the blue jays but they just have to get going a little bit better than they have the first yet well will see what uh... comes with it tonight there at their at fenway park before then they roll through Camden Yards for a few games. They got the Yankees coming up at Yankee Stadium. They got a big month ahead, but they've obviously decided to make some moves here on Vladikarov Jr. And a lot of excitement comes from that, certainly up here in Toronto. Appreciate the insight and thank

you for the time, Tim. Always appreciate it. Okay, fellas, take care. Tim Kirchgen of ESPN. the true north all the way. Loud and proud. An all-new digital radio station from coast to coast. Made in Canada, played in Canada. On the free iHeartRadio app and at iHeartRadio.ca. It's gonna get loud.