11:34pm: The Blue Jays have informed Guerrero that they have no spot for him in the Majors and he will not be called up, reports Enrique Rojas on ESPN Radio Dominicana (via Twitter). Vlad will be allowed out of his contract to seek employment elsewhere.
10:16am: Agent Bean Stringfellow told Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports that Guerrero "has not [opted out]. Not yet." The opt-out date is open, Rosenthal reports. There's no talk of Guerrero retiring, though. He's running and hitting well, according to his agent.
10:14am: Guerrero has given the Blue Jays an ultimatum, Enrique Rojas of ESPNDeportesLosAngeles.com reports (Spanish link). He won't return to the minor leagues, even if the team decides not to call him up. Guerrero has returned home to Anaheim, Rojas reports.
9:54am: Vladimir Guerrero appears to have decided to give up his comeback, Mike Wilner of Sportsnet 590 the FAN reports (on Twitter). The Blue Jays signed the 37-year-old to a minor league contract worth $1.3MM in the Major Leagues last month.
Soon after joining the Blue Jays' organization, Guerrero hit four homers in four games at Class A Dunedin. He was then promoted to Triple-A Las Vegas, where he collected four hits last night after a slow start. Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos has maintained that Guerrero won't necessarily make the club's active roster.
Guerrero has 2,590 hits, 449 homers and a .318/.379/.553 line in 16 big league seasons. In 590 plate appearances with the Orioles last year, the nine-time All-Star posted a .290/.317/.416 line with 13 homers. He drew interest from the Diamondbacks, Indians and Marlins earlier this year.
This post was originally published on June 12th.
Ok Then, Now what?
A shame he has to go out like this. Having half my family in Montreal we’d drive up there from Toronto every year, and I got a chance to see many Expos games during the dark ages at that cruddy old “ballpark”. Vladdy could do it all. He was one of the most complete players I’ve ever seen, and back then he was just in another stratosphere in terms of his talent. It’s a damn shame the Expos didn’t get that new park and his body had to die on that Big O concrete. And it’s also a shame the last great Expo didn’t get to finish his career in Canada (and if all was truly right it wouldn’t have been with my Blue Jays anyways). You hate to see a legend go out like this, wilting away in Vegas. But let’s celebrate him today. A hell of a career, congrats and bonsoir Vladimir, and see you in Cooperstown (hopefully with an Expos cap)
True. Funny, if they’d expanded Parc Jarry Vlad would still be a top OF today, and may not have DH’ed much at all. A true 5-tool player for over a decade anyway. A guy blogged a few comparative stats back in April (stuff like “what players hit over .300, OBP over .350, SLG% over .600, etc.”) for how many years, who met those standards the most years. He do one set of stats and it’d go “Ruth, Gehrig, Guerrero, Pujols”, then he’d put in runs and rbi’s and drop BA and it’d be “Gehrig, Aaron Ruth, Robinson, Pujols, Guerrero” then he’d put in OPS and ISO and it’d go “Ruth, Gehrig, Guerrero, Aaron, Robinson,” In every single list, all 15, only two names always appeared: Gehrig and Guerrero. Guys like Bonds only appeared once, to show how overrated guys like him are.
Does this mean he’s retiring? If so, amazing career.
This doesn’t sound accurate
I am confused… an ultimatum… majors or retirment?
Another pouty entitled veteran player.
The truth, Vlad, is that the team does not value you as much as you value yourself. This just goes to show that you’re more interested in filling in your career numbers than providing for your team by mentoring the players who will play when the Jays contend in the next few years, after you’re retired.
I’m infinitely glad your spot on the major-league roster is being kept open for those players.
You expect him to be happy mentoring young players in the minors? I don’t think anyone would be thrilled with that. That’s why he signed with an opt-out.
I don’t expect anything. Least of all for him to play in Toronto.
Yes, tweets and reading between the lines tell you so much about people being tweeted about. Remember when Olney tweeted that Guerrero and Damon would refuse to sign for under $5 million? All lies, but it got mileage.
This guy can still play! He didn’t sign up to be a mentor, last year’s numbers should be sufficient proof. He went down to the minors to get in shape and show that he still can perform. If the Jays have no use for him and are not going bring him up, then release him and let him sign with a team that will pay for his services
Vladimir is a class act and a bona-Fide 1st ballot HOFer, he doesn’t need to pad his numbers and should not be made to grovel like some mediocre scrub looking for a job.
Jays don’t need to release him. His contract has an opt out clause. Vlad can leave whenever he wants by using his opt out clause. There is nothing stopping him.
And they can trade him, too. If I’m AA, I put that out there first and ask Vlad to hold tight (assuming any of this is true).
Well when you’re currently working for “Beans” and you potted “Fern” in favor of “Beans” this is what happens!
The ultimatum I believe is that he is either in the majors to opting out
If I remember correctly, this is the same organization that was being shady with Frank Thomas near the end of his career.
If I remember correctly, Frank Thomas was hitting .167, got benched, and went ballistic over it.
And they still paid him. He was upset mainly because he a vesting 3rd year to his contract based on plate appearances – benching him was going to foil that.
He was getting paid regardless, had to do the same with BJ Ryan, will have to do the same with Lind if it happens. And with his offensive numbers that year, I don’t blame the Jays.
And rightfully so! The condition was there because the Jays were worried that he wouldn’t be able to play anymore. Hitting .167 is not being able to play anymore.
If I remember correctly, he played a couple games in Oakland, sustained an injury and wasn’t able to play anymore.
in the span of how many AB’s?
I am just happy he is not retiring because he deserves a better send off than that.
Vlad has an OPS of .519 in 30 games at AAA. The Jays are in the middle of the interleague schedule and have a 13 man pitching staff. What does Vlad expect? Horrible timing on his part.
30 plate appearances… not 30 games.
New tweets: Guerrero is signing with the Tigers, Guerrero is retiring to join the Foreign Legion, Guerrero is being called up by Toronto for Friday, Guerrero is voting for Obama (that tweet was retracted as Guerrero isn’t American). Anyone can tweet any blarny they like, who exactly has been fired for making up stuff on Twitter? Olney? Fox? Rosenthal? Who?
I never got fired. But, one person unfollowed me. What more do you want?
I was at the game on Saturday he was playing in. He got nailed in the arm by a pitch and left the game. It looked pretty bad so I’m sure there’s an injury element to this as well
Nice to hear from someone at the games, not a twit.
Well, he did go 4-5 last night with a lined triple to dead center, so I doubt he’s hurt. This next point has nothing to do with you, btw: until a real news report from a real source pops up, I won’t worry about him quitting or whatever.
Is Vladimir playing in the field or is he strictly a DH?
I think if vlad opt out than cleveland should signed him & released Damon who just isn’t hitting the ball anymore..
If he opts out hope the Yankees replace Jones with him.
no i hope the yankees dont sign him. thats all they need is another aging ball player on their team. still waitin to hear the news on Gardner. if anythin the yankees need to try to make a trade for Quentin or maybe a guy who can play all over the field like cuddyer who has some pop. wouldnt mind seein soriano back in new york either as a DH/OF especially since the cubs are whilling to take up most of his contract. send a couple of mid-level prospects to chicago and make the trade happen.
I’m sad to hear from this news.
When I go all the way to Toronto, I’d see Vlad.
My brother just emailed me: he has a trip planned to Toronto to see the Jays but may not go now, he wanted to see Guerrero. Trip was for early July. So if no Guerrero, my bro ain’t buying ticket’s. We’ll see.
Guerrero never really looked like he was going to be in Toronto. So it would be kind of silly for him to plan a trip to see Vlad.
That would be like planning a trip to a city to see a certain band without knowing if they are going on tour.
They should call him up to see what he can do, i would love to see this guy play on bluejays
I forgot that we base a players abilities on 60 AB’s in the beginning of a season. That would be like saying a reliever has an ERA of 9.40 in 3 outings in early April needs to be released because of his season is lost.
Frank Thomas was one of the pure players of his era. He wasn’t the egomaniac that folks made him out to be.
He was benched one game and was told he could expect less playing time in the future. He went livid because of that. He was nothing more than a DH, a DH hitting .167 does nothing. He should have taken the benching as fuel to improve himself and show he is worthy of still playing and getting that vesting option.
If we go by those standards then why didn’t the Angels release Pujols while they had the chance?
Like his hitting, he just kinda poked at whatever was within arm’s reach…