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We all knew they were interested in each other. The Blue Jays and Vlad Guerrero Jr. finally made it official.
Plus: Oh right, the Giants are also good, an excerpt from a heavy story in Boston, and Ken has more Dodgers/Phillies notes. I’m Levi Weaver, here with Ken Rosenthal. Welcome to The Windup!
While You Were Sleeping: Vlad Guerrero: 14 years, $500 million
It was only a matter of time. Right?
After coming up short on free agents Shohei Ohtani, Juan Soto and others in recent years, it always made sense for the Blue Jays to extend the superstar they had right there in their own stadium. Now they have: It’s 14 years and $500 million for Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Both sides appeared motivated. Whether it was a sense of security or familiarity, or if he really did just like playing for the only team in the country in which he was born (his dad played for the Expos, you might remember), Guerrero had expressed a desire to stick around. And the Blue Jays needed their star.
This is now the second-biggest contract in the sport … in present value.Ohtani’s is a bigger number ($700 million) but it is so heavily deferred, and for so long, that it equates to $460.8 million in present value.
As Ken reported a couple of weeks ago, $500 million in present value was the asking price. The Blue Jays could either watch Guerrero, 26, hit free agency, and allow other teams to drive up the bidding, or they could acquiesce.
Sure, Guerrero is a supreme hitter who doesn’t overwhelm with speed and defense, but you only have to look back a few months to see what the market is for those guys these days. Guerrero would have hit free agency at just a year older than Juan Soto.
So the Blue Jays made the deal. (Uhhh … how much is Kyle Tucker going to get?)
More on big contracts: Bryce Harper says “only losers complain” about what the Dodgers are doing.
Ken’s Notebook: Tidbits on Nola, Ohtani, Betts and Schwarber
I have some useful leftover notes from Saturday’s broadcast of the Dodgers-Phillies game on FS1:
Aaron Nola. At a time when the entire sport is trying to figure out how to keep pitchers healthy, Nola’s durability is nothing short of astonishing. He missed the final two months of the 2016 season with a strained right elbow and a month early in 2017 with a lower back strain. But he has been healthy ever since, leading the majors in both innings and games started since ‘18.
Nola has said he was “blessed” to get hurt early in his career; his injuries forced him to become more attuned to his body. Phillies players rave about his work ethic. He is diligent in the weight room, with his throwing, his hydration and diet. Bryce Harper talks about how Nola will quietly slip into the corner of the weight room and spend hours rolling on a lacrosse ball, loosening one muscle after another. Nola still flies in Jay Manda, the same personal trainer and massage therapist he met after his freshman year at LSU.
Shohei Ohtani. Threw a 25-pitch bullpen on Saturday, mixing in sliders for the first time. The pace of Ohtani’s recovery from a second major elbow surgery is deliberate. Ohtani seemingly does not want to do anything that might jeopardize his ability to do something only Babe Ruth has accomplished: pitching and hitting in the postseason. Some scouts believe that upon returning, he will be the Dodgers’ No. 1 starter — yes, even over two-time Cy Young winner Blake Snell and $325 million man Yoshinobu Yamamoto.
Mookie Betts. He’s nearly back to his full weight after dealing with a nasty stomach virus that caused him to miss the Dodgers’ first two games in Japan. Betts said he normally plays at 173-174 pounds, but was down to 158.2 — and yes, he used that exact figure in our conversation. He was so dehydrated in Japan that he needed an IV treatment with two liters of fluids. But he’s feeling better now, and as of Friday was up to 170 pounds.
Kyle Schwarber. The Phillies offered him an extension during the offseason, but after an initial proposal, talks failed to advance. Schwarber was content going year to year after turning down an extension with the Cubs early in his career. And while he wants to stay in Philadelphia, he’s also content playing out his free-agent year. He will be 33 next season, but surely would be in demand on the open market. Since 2022, only Aaron Judge has hit more home runs.
Surprises: Giants have best record in baseball
Here is a sentence I did not expect to write today: The San Francisco Giants (by a few percentage points) have the league’s best record, and are in first place in the NL West.
When last we spoke, the Dodgers were breaking a record for defending champs, starting their season 8-0, and the Padres had started theirseason 6-0. That undefeated duo may have obscured the fact that the Giants were hanging right in there.
With the Dodgers and Padres both receiving their first two losses over the weekend, the Giants pounced, sweeping the Mariners at home. They’re now 8-1, with their lone loss coming in the second game of the season.
Sometimes a hot start is just what we expect. (Dodgers). Other times we all go “Yeahhhh, give it a minute …” then watch the White Sox lose five straight.
I don’t know if the Giants are good. But as Grant Brisbee pointed out after Saturday’s win: This team feels a little bit … fun? And he wrote that between walk-off wins in their first home series of the year. Maybe let’s just enjoy it and see where it goes?
More from Giants/Mariners: I don’t care that it came one batter before the Giants walked it off; when it happened, this was a game-saving catch by Mariners outfielder Victor Robles. Holy moly.
Victor Robles exits the game after making an incredible catch. pic.twitter.com/uJb3XG7AFD
— MLB (@MLB) April 6, 2025
Robles injured his left wrist on the play, and had to be carted off the field. At time of writing, there has been no diagnosis. That is some baseball-hero stuff.
Luke Hales / Getty Images
Serious Matters: Jarren Duran’s Netflix revelation
If you talk to baseball announcers, they’ll tell you that an important part of the job is knowing when to be quiet and let the crowd tell the story. I think a similar decision is the right move here. Here’s an excerpt from Jen McCaffrey’s story today on Boston outfielder Jarren Duran, about a conversation featured in the documentary “The Clubhouse: A year with the Red Sox” (out tomorrow).
“I’d go out to center and hear, ‘Go back to Triple A, you don’t belong here,’” Duran recalled. “They didn’t know how hard I was trying.
“I couldn’t deal with telling myself how much I sucked every f— day,” Duran said.
That’s when the documentary shifts to Duran on a couch in a team hotel on the road where he reveals his attempt to take his life.
“I didn’t want to be here anymore,” Duran says, as (Netflix director Greg) Whiteley, off camera, asks if he means “here” as in with the Red Sox or on Earth.
“Probably both, that was a really tough time for me,” Duran says.
Duran describes sitting in his room and attempting to take his life. For reasons he says he still doesn’t understand, he survived unharmed.
“I took it as a sign I might have to be here for a reason,” he says. “So that’s when I started to look at myself in the mirror, I was like, ‘All right, do I want to be here or do I not want to be here?’ I was like ‘that happened for a reason and obviously you’re here for a f— reason so let’s f— be the way you want to be, let’s play the way you want to play, and let’s live the way I want to live.’”
…
Though he’s never previously revealed the depths of his struggles, Duran has been increasingly open about his mental health. At the end of 2022, Duran spoke with MassLive about some of his difficulties. which was the first time he’d publicly discussed his mental health. From there, he slowly began to speak out more.
You can (and should) read the entire story here.
More Red Sox: Rookie infielder Kristian Campbell will get some playing time in center field.
Handshakes and High Fives
Back in 1999, a different bat craze swept through MLB — maple. Zack Meisel did a superb job of telling the story of how that came to be, and the man who made it happen.
One is the A’s public address announcer. The other is an assistant media relations director with the Cubs. Evan Drellich introduces us to the Schimmel sisters.
This tribute to Roberto Clemente apparently wasn’t meant to be permanent. The Pirates forgot to tell everyone, then they had to apologize.
With the former mayor now in prison, new Anaheim Mayor Ashleigh Aitken has penned an open letter to the Angels.
It has only been 1,000 games. Is Aaron Judge already a Hall of Famer? His manager thinks so.
The Mets played a dangerous game with Pete Alonso — but for now, it’s all just super, says Tyler Kepner.
Oh, the Braves finally won.
A healthy Byron Buxton is a whole lot of fun.
Look out, Elly De La Cruz: Rays prospect Chandler Simpson beat out a routine grounder to the first baseman.
Most-clicked in our last newsletter: Britt Ghiroli’s story on frugal baseball players.
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(Top photo: Brad Penner / Imagn Image)