How Vlad Jr. and the Blue Jays bet on each other -- and won

SIX MONTHS AGO, conscionable 7 games into the 2025 season, the Toronto Blue Jays arrived successful Queens with uncertainty hovering implicit Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s future. New York Mets fans, hopeful that their squad could yet onshore the impending escaped cause and spouse him with Juan Soto, welcomed the archetypal baseman with notably large cheers astatine Citi Field to unfastened the play series. Guerrero and the Blue Jays had failed to scope an statement connected a declaration hold earlier an arbitrary mid-February deadline, and the play would not die.

Then, suddenly, it did, hours aft the Mets completed a play sweep. The woody was historic: 14 years, $500 cardinal without deferrals, the third-largest declaration successful Major League Baseball history. The Canadian-born Guerrero, signed retired of the Dominican Republic arsenic a 16-year-old with a celebrated name, would beryllium a Blue Jay for life. Guerrero stake connected himself by turning down smaller offers and stake connected the Blue Jays by agreeing not to trial escaped agency. And the Blue Jays stake connected the homegrown prima astatine a monolithic price, having whiffed connected different marquee talents successful caller years. The interaction was instant.

"We didn't commencement playing our champion shot until May," Blue Jays starter Max Scherzer said. "But if that didn't get settled, it would beryllium this unreality hanging implicit our play the full time. The information that that was resolved conscionable benignant of settled everything down. The extracurricular attraction is resolved. It's nary longer, 'What's going to hap here?' It benignant of took the elephant retired of the room."

Guerrero, 26, responded with his 5th All-Star season, batting .292 with 23 location runs and an .848 OPS successful 156 games. His play, coupled with rebound seasons from George Springer and Bo Bichette and a heavy roster of contributors, fueled the Blue Jays' ascension from 74 wins and past spot successful 2024 to 94 wins, an American League East rubric and, now, Game 3 of the American League Championship Series.

The Blue Jays tin constituent to a fewer imaginable turning points connected their mode to a 4th playoff quality successful six years. There was a three-game expanse successful Seattle successful aboriginal May. There was Bichette's pinch-hit, go-ahead location tally successful the ninth inning successful Texas aboriginal that month. But Guerrero's statement a week into the play helped pave the mode to wherever the Blue Jays find themselves Wednesday: 4 wins shy of their archetypal World Series quality successful 32 years.

Down 2-0 aft the Mariners dominated the archetypal 2 games successful Toronto, it's nary casual feat. But the extremity Guerrero has acceptable for himself hasn't changed.

"For maine my extremity ever is to triumph a World Series, to bring the World Series here," Guerrero said earlier this postseason. "My father, helium ne'er had the accidental to triumph a World Series. That's 1 of my goals, ever been 1 of my goals, to bash that for me, for him."

THE JOURNEY TO this breakout postseason for Guerrero and the Blue Jays began much than a decennary ago. In January 2015, months earlier Guerrero was eligible to motion arsenic an planetary escaped agent, Edwin Encarnación received a telephone from Alex Anthopoulos, past Toronto's wide manager: The Blue Jays wanted to spot a 15-year-old Guerrero, their apical people that year, enactment retired again successful the Dominican Republic -- and they needed to find a ballpark.

Encarnación, coming disconnected an All-Star play for Toronto successful 2014, reached retired to his contacts and a workout was arranged to person Guerrero look older escaped agents from Cuba. With Encarnación and Blue Jays officials, including Anthopoulos and planetary scouting manager Ismael Cruz looking on, Guerrero convinced the decision-makers.

"It was thing speci...