The New York Yankees have entered spring training with a new-look roster, but more changes could be on the horizon.
After hosting superstar slugger Juan Soto for just one season, the Yankees were unable to retain him for the long-term as he received a historic $765 million contract from the rival New York Mets.
Instead, the Yankees pivoted with a more holistic roster upgrade, signing the likes of Paul Goldschmidt and Max Fried and trading for Devin Williams and Cody Bellinger. But with Goldschmidt playing on a single-year deal, the team could be preparing to negotiate with the next winter’s most coveted available player, four-time All-Star Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
Guerrero declined the Toronto Blue Jay’s extension offer and will instead become a free agent. Tim Britton of The Athletic recently projected he could be in line for a 15-year, $450 million deal with any number of big-market teams looking to sign him.
Guerrero has previously said he’d “never” play for the Yankees, suggesting they might not get the chance to make him their best offer. But now with his free agency looming, Guerrero sent a clear message to the team about his willingness to consider a deal to wear pinstripes.
“If I go to free agency, every team — all 30 teams — are going to have the opportunity to sit down with (me), to talk to me,” Guerrero told the New York Post’s Jon Heyman through an interpreter. “I’m OK with everything. It’s in the past.”
Guerrero also elaborated about where his hard feelings originated from, explaining that a complicated relationship with the Yankees went beyond a simple American League East division rivalry. He told Heyman that he was once standing in front of the Yankees dugout as a child, accompanying his father, who played Major League Baseball for 16 seasons, and the team told his father to take him inside.
“I felt bad,” Guerrero Jr. said. “And it stood with me.”
Heyman also noted that the Yankees changed some plans to sign his father later in his career, which has also fueled some hard feelings.
However, it seems Guerrero wouldn’t let that history rule out a new deal to join the Yankees. With an upcoming opening at first base and some urgency to pair Aaron Judge with a superstar slugger running mate, that open mindedness might just pave the way for a deal between Guerrero and the Yankees next year.
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