Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said the Toronto Blue Jays recently made him an offer in the range of $340 million that was “not even close to what we’re looking for,” adding during an interview Sunday in Spanish Abriendo El Podcastthat he will call off extension talks once spring training begins.

The unusual candor from Guerrero – who also said the Blue Jays made him a seven-year, $150 million offer after his monster 2021 win when he finished second in the MVP race – suggests that the talks not progressing as he would have liked. especially in view of Juan Soto’s record contract with a term of 15 years and a volume of 765 million US dollars.

But as he told the Dominican Show he doesn’t want to discuss his contract once the team begins full-squad workouts, there is a deadline for talks aimed at preventing him from hitting a free after the 2025 season to become an agent.

Guerrero, 25, has said multiple times that he would like to stay with the Blue Jays on a long-term contract, but negotiations fell short of his financial expectations.

“Obviously something happened,” Guerrero said in Spanish, translated into English by Sportsnet, when asked why he didn’t sign a contract extension with the Blue Jays. “But they haven’t reached the price I’m looking for, not even close.”

Born in Canada and raised in the Dominican Republic, Guerrero cemented his status as one of the best young hitters in baseball with a 2024 season in which he played in his fourth All-Star Game and was named an All-MLB first-team first baseman and won his second career Silver Slugger Award and finished sixth in AL MVP voting.

In his first MVP-level year in 2021, he finished second to Shohei Ohtani and received an offer that would have kept the then-22-year-old north of the border until 2028.

“I heard it and told my (agent) that I wasn’t interested,” Guerrero told hosts Vian Araujo and Ricardo Rodríguez. “It was a valid offer. After that, 2022… nothing… 2023… nothing.”

With fellow Dominican star Soto signing a record deal with the New York Mets this offseason, Guerrero is at the top of the next set of prominent names not locked up. The Blue Jays were among the teams that fought to sign Soto before he signed a record $765 million, no-delay contract with the Mets.

Guerrero did not discuss current negotiations, but did confirm a report from former MLB player Carlos Baerga that the Blue Jays approached him with an offer this offseason.

“If you look at the numbers between Soto and me, Soto has an advantage over me in some ways,” Guerrero said. “So my (agent) compares the numbers and got to a point where they haven’t arrived yet.”

But if the Blue Jays reach that point before the team’s first full-squad practice, Guerrero said he’ll be “ready to go.”

— All quotes translated into English by Sportsnet