Blue Jays' Atkins: Guerrero Jr. practising third base 'worth the risk'

Ross Atkins praised Vlad Guerrero Jr.'s fitness level and work ethic as he aims to take the third base position, while still balancing the need to work on first base as well.

It's sometimes easy to forget that Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is still only 21 years old. He's about to enter his third season with the Toronto Blue Jays, and his memorable walk-off home run in Montreal happened in 2018.

Needless to say, he's far from a finished product. So the Blue Jays are comfortable allowing him to continue taking reps at third base, even though the club reassigned him to first base last season.

Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said as much Thursday, when he was asked about Guerrero Jr.'s work at third base in the Dominican Winter League and whether it would impact his play at first.

"Of course we have to balance that but it's worth it," Atkins said. "It's worth the concern, it's worth the risk for the upside of him being able to play third base. He's 21-years-old. He has put himself in a really good physical position. He's trending exceptionally well with a very lofty goal that he's on track to reach.

"So, you just don't want to limit that."

The Blue Jays have a hole at third after non-tendering Travis Shaw, but they've been linked to plenty of elite infield talent this off-season, including third baseman Justin Turner and shortstop Francisco Lindor. While adding those proven talents are a possibility, as with everything this current Blue Jays regime does, one eye is on the future and that future could include Guerrero Jr. returning to the hot corner.

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