Amid a trying season for both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays, the franchise first baseman is standing by some viral comments he recently made during an interview with Spanish podcaster Veronica Batista.
During the episode, which will be released fully on Oct. 4, Guerrero was asked about his 2026 struggles in the first season of his 14-year, $500-million extension with the Blue Jays.
“They didn’t pay me to hit 40 every year. The contract was based on what I did, not necessarily for what I'm going to do," the 27-year-old said, via a translation on Blue Jays Central. "I understand why the fans believe it's the other way around."
"Sometimes I think that way, too. Like, they gave me this money and I'm not doing enough. But I try my best and I'm working hard."
As is the case with any translated statement, there is the potential for meaning to be lost across languages. And with Wednesday's clip being just a small portion of a longer interview without the question included, there could be missing context.
After a 1-for-4 afternoon in the first half of a doubleheader on Wednesday, Guerrero saw his slash line on the season move to .263/.335/.360 while he continues to sit on nine homers in 142 games.
The down year comes on the heels of a historic post-season run that saw Guerrero carry a 1.289 OPS and hit eight long balls through Game 7 of the World Series.
At times this season, Guerrero has received boos from the Rogers Centre faithful as the Blue Jays were unable to string much together at any point of the summer.
"The fans, I know how they are," he continued with Batista. "When you are doing great, they are 100 per cent behind you. But when you are not at your best, not everybody is behind you. Almost nobody supports you.
"Those are my real fans. The ones that are supporting me all the time."
Naturally, Guerrero was asked to clarify those comments by reporters between games on Wednesday in Baltimore.
"That was a quote from the interview, and she asked me how I felt about this year," he explained through interpreter Hector Lebron. "I said, obviously, I feel really bad about the year I had. I couldn't help get my team to the post-season. And I said that I felt — in my personal opinion — that every player gets paid for what they've done.
"With that said, if you guys remember, I signed my contract at the beginning of last year when I did put up a good year, the kind of playoffs I had, to help the team get into the World Series. To the fans, I never stopped working very hard. I'm going to go to the off-season again to prepare myself to do the best I can physically, mentally. Like I always do for my team and teammates."
Later asked if he regrets what he said in the interview with Batista, Guerrero didn't take back his comments.
"No, I don't regret myself. I'm not lying with what I said," he replied. "I understand some fans, they don't understand the way and what I was trying to say specifically, but what I said is the way I feel."
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