Report: Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Blue Jays agree to 14-year, $500 million deal that starts in 2026

NEW YORK — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays agreed to a 14-year, $500 million contract that starts in 2026, according to a person familiar with the negotiations, a deal that removes what would have been the biggest star from next offseason’s free-agent market.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity early Monday because the agreement had not been announced.

Guerrero’s deal does not include any deferred money, the person said.

Guerrero agreed in January to a one-year, $28.5 million contract that avoided arbitration and the four-time All-Star first baseman had said he wouldn’t negotiate after he reported to spring training in mid-February. Still, talks with his agent continued well into the regular season.

Guerrero got the third-largest contract in total dollars behind outfielder Juan Soto’s 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets that started this season and two-way star Shohei Ohtani’s 10-year, $700 million agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers that began last year and is heavily deferred.

Guerrero’s $35.71 million average annual value under the new deal ranks eighth among current contracts behind the agreements of Ohtani ($70 million), Soto ($51 million), Philadelphia pitcher Zack Wheeler ($42 million), Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge ($40 million), Texas pitcher Jacob deGrom ($37 million), Dodgers pitcher Blake Snell ($36.4 million) and Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole ($36 million).

A son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, the Blue Jays star turned 26 last month and would have been a free agent this fall at a relatively young age.

Guerrero is a .277 career hitter with 160 homers and 511 RBIs. He’s batting .256 with no homers and four RBIs in the first 10 games this season.

Seeking its first World Series title since winning championships in 1992 and 1993, Toronto notably failed to land Ohtani, Soto and Roki Sasaki. The Blue Jays agreed to a five-year, $92.5 million contract with outfielder Anthony Santander, a one-year, $15.5 million contract with right-hander Max Scherzer and a three-year, $33 million contract with reliever Jeff Hoffman.

Toronto shortstop Bo Bichette, a two-time All-Star, remains eligible for free agency after this year’s World Series.