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Blue Jays first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. won his second Silver Slugger Award
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Photo credit: © Nick Turchiaro - USA Today
Ryley Delaney
Nov 12, 2024, 20:00 ESTUpdated: Nov 12, 2024, 19:52 EST
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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. capped off his terrific 2024 season with an award.
On Tuesday evening, the Toronto Blue Jays announced that their superstar first baseman won the American League Silver Slugger Award for the position.
There wasn’t much of a debate about whether or not Guerrero Jr. would win the award. Last season, he slashed .323/.396/.544 with 30 home runs in 697 plate appearances, giving him a 165 wRC+ and a 5.5 fWAR.
His competitors for the award were Josh Naylor and Carlos Santana. The former, also born in Canada, slashed .243/.320/.456 with 31 home runs in 633 plate appearances for a 118 wRC+, while Santana slashed .238/.328/.420 with 23 home runs in 594 plate appearances for a 114 wRC+.
In fact, Guerrero Jr.’s season was so good it rivaled his 2021 season where he finished second in American League MVP voting. That year, he slashed .311/.401/.601 with 48 home runs in 698 plate appearances, giving him a 166 wRC+ and a 6.3 fWAR. As you can imagine, he also won the Silver Slugger Award that season as well.
The 2025 season will be Guerrero Jr.’s final season under contract with the Blue Jays. He’s projected to make $29.6 million in arbitration according to MLB Trade Rumors, by far the most for any arbitration-eligible player.
Simply put, Guerrero Jr. has to be re-signed as soon as possible, as he’s the team superstar. Allowing him to reach free agency just to receive a measly pick or trading him at the trade deadline won’t suffice. Give him whatever he wants, and add some protection in the lineup to help improve this team.
As for that extension, Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi said on The FAN Pregame on Monday that it could be a case of waiting to see what Juan Soto receives on his extension as somewhat of a framework.
Guerrero Jr. will be expensive, there’s no getting around that, but re-signing him this off-season is a must for the Jays.
As always, you can follow me on Bluesky @ryleydelaney.bsky.social. 

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