Master playing first is Jays’ message to Guerrero
It’s the question that followed Vladimir Guerrero Jr. around wherever he went. One that predated his arrival in the big leagues and can be traced all the way back to his signing as an amateur free agent in 2016. What position is he going to play?
Guerrero became one of the most hyped prospects in minor-league history because of his bat. Externally, the glove was an afterthought, but inside the organization his defence was used as justification to keep him off the big-league roster. Before he arrived in The Show, Guerrero needed to tighten things up in the field.
Except that never happened. If Guerrero’s glove improved during his ascent through the minors, it wasn’t apparent by the time he put on a Blue Jays uniform. Guerrero made 17 errors during his rookie season in 2019 and ranked last among third basemen with -16 outs above average, twice as bad as runner-up Maikel Franco. For almost a year, Guerrero was considered one of the sport’s biggest liabilities.
Initially, there were promises of a second chance and Guerrero set out last off-season to improve his conditioning. Whatever he was doing away from the field failed miserably because, by the time summer camp opened, he was overweight and suffering from a lack of mobility. The coaching staff took one look at the situation, abandoned all plans of putting him at third, and made Guerrero the starter at first within a matter of days.
Problem solved, right? Not exactly. Guerrero struggled there, too, with a tendency to stray too far off the bag while chasing groundballs and being overweight hampered his ability to get into proper fielding position. Nothing about his play seemed natural and questions soon followed about whether Guerrero was on the verge of becoming one of the youngest full-time DHs the league has seen.
The defence and conditioning became enough of a talking point that Guerrero took it personally. He apologized to his teammates and, a year after making claims about dedicating himself to fitness, he finally followed through. Guerrero reported to spring training this month looking like a completely different person, claiming to have lost 42 pounds.
The carrot at the end of the stick was the hope of reclaiming his former spot. Guerrero played third in winter ball and spent most of his offseason working out at the position, while telling anyone who would listen that getting back to the hot corner was his goal. To this day, he still lists himself as the Jays’ third baseman in his Instagram bio.
All these events brought the Jays and Guerrero to a fork in the road. The club needed to decide which position suited his skill set and to stick with it. After months, even years, of uncertainty they appear to have made up their minds. Guerrero is a first baseman, with one small caveat.
“My conversation with him today, (GM) Ross (Atkins) and I talked to him today, ‘Become a Gold Glove first baseman,’ ” Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. “I haven’t seen him play third since two years ago. We don’t want to close the door there, (we’ll) see what he looks like and, if he plays well, it’s going to be good for our team … But our main message was become a Gold Glove first baseman and then we’ll move you to third, see how it goes.”
The Jays are obsessed with positional flexibility. They take great pride in having players like Cavan Biggio who move all over the field with relative ease. Guerrero’s situation is different because he has yet to play any position well. A slimmer frame will improve his lateral movement, but there are a lot of instincts that don’t come naturally to him, particularly at first where at times he looked like a fish out of water. The only thing that will help is a lot of in-game reps.
With Biggio capable of handling third and prospects Austin Martin and Jordan Groshans on the way, there is no longer a need to spend time developing Guerrero at third. Outside of spot starts versus lefties, the bulk of Guerrero’s work will come at first, which from this perspective seems like the correct decision.
“I prepare myself mentally,” Guerrero said through an interpreter. “If I’m going to play third base, I have to get better at third base. If I’m going to first base, I have to go out there and get better at first base. That’s the way I prepared for this year. I know I’m going to have my shots. I’m going to play third, I’m going to play first. I have to keep working hard everyday at those two positions.”
If Guerrero’s desire to play third fuelled his off-season motivation, there was no harm in the Jays playing along. The drop in weight will improve not only his range but also his bat path and bat speed, which are driven by the lower part of his body. But the ship has sailed on his primary defensive role. It was time for the Jays to decide on his full-time position and it appears as though they’ve finally done it.
Whether Guerrero lives up to the hype will depend on the numbers he produces at the plate. The glove was never going to make or break his career. Even so, settling on a permanent home was a decision that had to be made before everyone could move forward with the rest of his career.
After a lot of trial and error, the Jays settled on their top choice. Guerrero is a first baseman and it will be on him to keep it that way. The alternative is not using the glove at all. That’s a scenario everyone wants to avoid, Guerrero and the Blue Jays included.