Ten years ago today, the Toronto Blue Jays’ franchise would be altered forever.

On July 2nd, 2015, the organization signed 16-year-old slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a $3.9 million contract through international free agency out of the Dominican Republic. Although born in Montreal, Que. when his father, Vladimir Guerrero Sr., was suiting up for the Expos, Guerrero Jr. signed with the Jays through the IFA route after moving to the Dominican shortly after and spending his early childhood on the island, while also splitting time in the United States during the summer with his father.

Guerrero quickly rose through the Jays’ farm system, ranking as the top prospect in baseball in 2019, and later made his Major League debut that year.

Through 903 games and 3458 at-bats since then, Guerrero has amassed a .287/.364/.496 slash line with a .860 OPS and a 136 OPS+. He’s also chipped in 194 doubles, 172 home runs, and 551 RBIs during this time and has missed limited games on the sidelines since making his debut over six years ago. Guerrero owns a lifetime .303 BABIP while collecting 30+ home runs in four of his last five seasons. He also has amassed a lifetime 10.1 BB% rate and has limited the strikeouts to a 15.4% rate, over 7.3% below the MLB average.

The right-handed bat’s best season came in 2021, when he tied Salvador Perez with 48 home runs for the league lead and finished second in AL MVP voting following his .311/.401/.601 slash line and 1.002 OPS – with his OBP, SLG, OPS, and OPS+ (167) all being AL highs.

Since 2019, Guerrero has ranked among qualified hitters across the Major Leagues:

3rd: Hits (992)
7th: Plate appearences (3908)
11th: wRC+ (136) and Doubles
12th: Home runs and RBIs
15th: Walks (396)
16th: Batting average
17th: On-base percentage and Runs (527)
18th: OPS

Heading into the 2025 season, the Blue Jays and Guerrero could not come to terms on a long-term deal, making it seem like he and battery mate Bo Bichette would be destined for free agency. However, on April 9th, Toronto and its star slugger agreed on a 14-year, $500 million extension, making it the largest contract in franchise history and one of the largest in the game. The 26-year-old is now under contract for arguably the rest of his career with the Blue Jays.

So far, the Canadian product has accumulated four All-Star nominations, two Silver Slugger Awards, one Gold Glove Award, and one Hank Aaron Award, and won the 2023 All-Star Home Run Derby. For the franchise leaderboard, he currently sits eighth in bWAR (23.9) and home runs, ninth in total bases (1714) and RBIs, and tenth in walks and hits.

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