Onus on Blue Jays to make most of 2025 after Guerrero extension talks fail

DUNEDIN, Fla. – Five years removed from his own walk-year with the Houston Astros, George Springer watched the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. extension drama play out “from afar.” The Toronto Blue Jays outfielder understands that “every guy is different, every situation is different,” and knows full well, from all angles, the slate of possibilities now at hand.

“The most important thing is just to be where your feet are. Stay present. Stay with your teammates. If you need help, ask. I don't think there's anything wrong with that,” Springer said Wednesday after a round of live batting practice against Jose Berrios and Bowden Francis. “At the end of the day, it's not about tomorrow — for all of us — it's about now and about doing whatever we can for the Toronto Blue Jays in the moment. And whatever happens at the end of the day happens.”

That’s where things are at for the Blue Jays after they failed to reach agreement with Guerrero on a long-term contract extension ahead of the all-star first baseman’s Monday night deadline. 

A deal would have set the club down one path, with their cornerstone in place for the long haul, but instead everyone now must reconcile the uncertainty that lies ahead and succeed in spite of the instability. Springer’s former team, the Astros, both survived and thrived after his free-agent departure following the 2020 season, along with that of Carlos Correa after 2021. Alex Bregman, who recently signed with the Boston Red Sox, along with Kyle Tucker, who was traded to the Chicago Cubs in December ahead of his walk year, are their latest high-profile departures.

With Bo Bichette, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer, Chad Green and Erik Swanson also pending free agents this fall, plus Springer, Kevin Gausman, Yimi Garcia, Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho up after the 2026 season, there are major directional headwinds coming for the Blue Jays.

“I'm very confident in the group that we have, the mentality,” said Springer, adding later: “I'm a firm believer in you play for what's on your chest and don't play for what's on the back. If you play for what's on your chest, everything else will be OK.”

The Blue Jays are asking the 35-year-old to do precisely that this season, with at least a partial move out of the leadoff spot and some duty in left field, a spot where he’s played just once in the majors, for three innings in 2018. 

At the beginning of camp manager John Schneider described the batting order as “an open book,” and he’s since spoken to Springer further on the subject. 

Springer has taken 83 per cent of his 2,222 plate appearances since joining the Blue Jays out of the leadoff spot, where he’s hit for the vast majority of his 11 seasons in the majors, so it’s a pretty significant shift.

But after a down 2024 in which he batted .220/.303/.371 with 19 homers, everything has to be on the table and Schneider said the Blue Jays are “not going to just be stagnant with what we're doing one, two, three.”

“We have our idea of guys that are going to be at the top,” he added, “and are going to mix and match with each night based on who we're facing.”

That includes Bo Bichette, Will Wagner and Andres Gimenez along with Springer, Schneider said, and “the goal is to be more balanced one through nine, throughout, keep ourselves out of positions that are really easy to manoeuvre from a bullpen standpoint. … We're just going to try to maximize each night.”

Springer, who says he worked on some adjustments at the plate over the winter to address unspecified issues he identified at the end of last year, is here for it, noting simply that, “my job is to do whatever I can to help us win, whether that's hitting first, second, fifth, fourth — I don't care. I'm going to be the same guy. I'm going to be the same hitter I know how to be.”

While that will be one adjustment, another will be getting used to left field, something he plans to discuss with Gold-Glove winner Daulton Varsho, who has bounced between left and centre. 

The goal there, said Schneider, is sometimes getting Anthony Santander into right field, since the slugger has only played left once since 2022 and only 90 times in 612 defensive appearances in the majors. 

The Blue Jays don’t have a specific number of games in each corner for the duo, but “some will be ballpark driven, some is matchup driven,” said Schneider. “I don't want to say left is new for Tony, but it's something he hasn't done in quite a while and we know what George can do in right and centre. There'll be days where Tony's in left and George is in right, as well.”

Creating flexibility in both their defensive alignment and batting orders are the latest attempts by the Blue Jays to identify and leverage any small advantage they can find. 

Given how short-term success carries major longer-term implications for them this year, that’s understandable, but they need to have the baseball piece right if they hope to retain Guerrero once he hits the open market in the fall.

“I know what kind of player he is, but the most important thing is he's a great human,” Springer said of his teammate. “He's here. He's here to win. Obviously a guy like that on your team, for however long, is great and it doesn't matter what. At the end of the day, we'll see what happens. But everyone loves Vladimir.”

No debate there, but if this is it and the Blue Jays are going to risk him leaving for little more than a compensatory draft pick, the onus is on everyone to make this year count.