Plenty of Blue Jay's talk about their upcoming superstar in waiting Vladimir Guerrero Jr.. If this young hatch-ling is a good as the pundits believe, he could follow his Dad and fly right into Cooperstown.
To do that of course he will have hit some major milestones, as the hall rewards not a few years of brilliance, but a career. Your life -time stats in hits and home runs to name a few, are measured against all that came before you.
So you can see why Vlad Jr. has been anxious to get his career started. Unfortunately, for him the Blue Jays, like many clubs want to delay his entrance into the majors and maximize the years he is Blue Jay before he becomes a free agent.
He didn't play on the big club last year and it is widely speculated that he won't make his earliest debut for the Blue Jays until this May. By doing so the Jays keep him locked up a year longer year and delay him from becoming a free agent and making ridiculous dollars.
While many fans complain about not being able to cheer for Vlad Jr. mashing for their Blue Jays this past season, little has been discussed about the impact these service time shenanigans have on the player.
While the Blue Jays didn't want to waste a year of Vlad Jr.'s service time while they languished last season, the player was ready to get his Hall of Fame quest started. When he is in the twilight of his career he may feel quite bitter that the Blue Jays held him back. Especially, if he is few home runs shy of what's needed to get him into Cooperstown.
I also doubt he is happy about having to wait another year longer to cash in on free agency.
Over the coming years when there is much said about if Vlad Jr. will extend his contract in Toronto, he will remember the organization who held him back.
So it should be no surprise that he will eventually leave the piker Blue Jays, once he is finally free to fly out of their short sighted bird cage.
Originally published January 2019