Hopefully, Chris Bassitt and the Toronto Blue Jays are as optimistic about Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s future with the franchise as he is.
Although he doesn’t have any inside information, the Jays starting pitcher stated that he doesn’t believe Vladdy wants to leave the one MLB team he has ever played for.
In a Monday interview with Chris Rose Sports, Bassitt stated, “I don’t know this, I don’t want to speak for him on this, I think Vladdy wants to be a Blue Jay for the rest of his career.” “I don’t think there’s a huge urgency to get an extension done because I don’t think he wants to leave.
“It’s apparent that they didn’t trade him because they never see him or desire to see him wearing a different uniform. They can go to arbitration to find out how much he will make the following year, but I believe that both parties want to get together.
“I don’t believe there is a terrible relationship, and I don’t believe his lack of an extension is a bad thing. Perhaps Vlad is saying, “Listen, I’m going to hold off until closer to, say, free agency because I don’t know what a real fair value for me is right now,” even if it seems like both parties want to be together.
A move across the diamond, on the other hand, would be beneficial for Guerrero, according to Bassitt.
“The most absurd thing about it, in my opinion, is that, were I Vladdy heading into a free agency year, I would be saying, ‘Listen, you’re shifting me to third base because I’m going to make a lot more money there than at first base,’ even though, in actuality, he is a pretty damn excellent third baser.
“I anticipated that Vladdy’s move from first to third would be a complete disaster. Vladdy can’t possibly play third, so we moved him to third, and I was like, “Wow, you can really play third.” He’s really damn excellent at third, just like you played third, obviously, but like I said that was a long time ago.
75 percent of the time, I would toss him over there. He wouldn’t even be at first base in my opinion.
In the course of the discussion, Bassitt also discussed what he believed to be the primary cause of the team’s difficulties this season: the ultimately futile chase of superstar Shohei Ohtani.
The starting pitcher for the Blue Jays stated that the team was in a challenging situation even before the season began by pursuing the superstar free agent this past winter.
“I will say one thing about the Blue Jays for this season: we spent $700 million on Shohei Ohtani and didn’t succeed in acquiring him,” Bassitt remarked. “That was the situation as it actually was, and I don’t think we had a clear pivot to another exceptional player.
In today’s baseball, three or four superstars are necessary. Take a look at the elite teams. They are actually employing three or four superstars in addition to just one. That’s just the way that pitching and bullpens are set up in this game these days.
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