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Vladimir Guerrero Jr. apologizes to Blue Jays teammates, vows 'to make my contract a great one'

Whether Toronto fans are ready to forgive and forget remains to be seen

Published Sep 25, 2026  •  Last updated 9 hours ago  •  5 minute read

Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. breaks his bat after grounding out in the eighth inning of a game against the St. Louis Cardinals at Rogers Centre in Toronto, Aug. 1, 2026. Photo by Cole Burston /Getty Images

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Who knows for certain what made Vladimir Guerrero Jr. feel compelled to apologize to the fan base that he’s always professed to be dear to him?

Perhaps it was genuine contrition and recognition of the huge distraction and outrage that his flippant remarks on a Spanish podcast that were released this week.

Perhaps it was a conversation with his hall of fame father, Vlad Guerrero Sr., who expressed disappointment with his son’s untimely messaging two days earlier in Baltimore.

Or perhaps it was after a heart-to-heart conversation with his manager, John Schneider, who has been at his side for most of his professional baseball steps.

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Whatever the inertia — and with what appeared to be a genuine sense of humility and contrition — hours before the last homestand in this lost Blue Jays season began, Guerrero tried to make good.

It started when he met with his teammates and apologized, essentially for becoming a high-decibel distraction. And it continued with a press availability that began 3.5 hours before first pitch of the meaningless Jays-Reds match that would follow.

“The main reason I’m here is because I regret my comments the other day,” Guerrero said in what was essentially a prepared statement and translated by team interpreter Hector Lebron. “I feel from my heart that my fans, my teammates, they need an apology from me and that’s why I’m here.

“The comments I made were not what I meant to say,” he added before vowing “to make my contract a great one.”

Whether Guerrero was pushed into the mea culpa probably doesn’t matter, nor does it immediately dismiss the explosive comments in which he suggested he was paid for his past and not his future. He didn’t exactly apologize for that on Friday – in fact wasn’t exactly keen to provide clarity to the comments that started this mess.

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Whether Toronto fans are ready to forgive and forget just yet, also remains to be seen. On Friday, anyway, the response was lukewarm at best as Guerrero was greeted with a mix of muted cheering and a smattering of predicted booing when he was introduced for his first plate appearance.

That remains unclear as the possibility remains that he still doesn’t completely understand the roots of the the mess he created.

That was apparent, given that he even went down the road of suggesting on the now infamous podcast that the Jays didn’t hand him all that cash to “hit 40 (home runs)” a season. And he certainly didn’t help himself when he doubled down on the comments on Wednesday in Baltimore.

When asked specifically on Friday what he meant to say, the 28-year-old all-star first baseman danced (and not with particular deftness) though that isn’t to question his sincerity in trying to make good.

“Obviously what I meant, it’s been a disappointing year,” Guerrero said, again as translated by Lebron. “I couldn’t help my team more to accomplish our goal and it’s just hard for me.”

Of course that isn’t what he meant to say, nor did it come anywhere near addressing the issues that inflamed such a large portion of the fan base.

In trying to explain his struggling face of the franchise, Schneider wasn’t going to let him off the hook completely, but felt it was important to wipe away some of the confusion.

“That attitude has never been there,” Schneider said in reference to Guerrero’s head-scratching suggestion that the 14-year, $500- million US deal was based on what he had done in the past rather than the future. “I think he understands that players get paid based on what they’ve done and what they’re projected to do.

“In a perfect world, he probably would have said that initially. (But) it wasn’t like: ‘OK, I’m having a down year, so tough sh– Blue Jays, you’ve already paid me. It’s never been that. It was kind of an interview that wasn’t explained well.”

There is probably truth to that as well and, frankly, was bound to happen, given that Guerrero regularly gives interviews to all manner of Spanish outlets. But the mere whiff of being an ingrate was what made this a story in the first place.

To the player’s credit, Schneider was adamant that the hastily arranged media availability was Guerrero’s idea.

As for the fan’s reaction, it was predictable given that in the podcast with the Dominican reporter there was this shot: “When you are doing great, they are 100 per cent behind you. But when you’re not at your best, not everybody is behind you.”

Guerrero is likely to here more of the same as the season finally expires, but it will matter much more when he gets down to making amends performance-wise whenever the 2027 season begins.

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Despite the urgency to rebound from the horrid season he’s about to complete, Guerrero first needs to heal, physically and mentally.

“The first thing I’m going to do is I just need some rest, mentally and physically,” Guerrero said. “I’m going to make sure I get some rest then get back to work and stay focused, work very hard then come back strong next year to be the type of player that I am and to have an excellent career. That’s my main goal.”

Typically, the rest portion of Guerrero’s off-season includes time back home in the Dominican to recover before getting down to business. That process will be complicated by the looming MLB work stoppage, which means that, after Dec. 1, the team won’t be permitted to have any contact with its players.

“I think he’ll be back and forth a little bit, Florida and the DR,” Schneider said. “But if anything, we have to nail everything with these guys in terms of what the plan is. There’s going to be a lot of responsibility on the guys to be really diligent and we’ll try to stay in touch with them as much as we can.”

As he often is, Guerrero relies on his father’s opinion on all things baseball and beyond.

This year has been no different.

“Obviously regarding my season, we always talk,” Guerrero said. “He always told me to stay positive, mentally positive and to keep working hard.

“And for the comments from the other day, he basically told me to do what I’m doing right now and give my fans an apology.”

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