Blue Jays star Guerrero Jr. irks fans with comments about his poor play after signing a $500M contract: 'They paid me for what I already accomplished'

In a preview clip of the interview, Guerrero says that the massive $500 million, 14-year contract he signed with the Jays, the biggest in the franchise’s history, was not “for what [he’s] going to do, it was for what [he] already did.”

“They didn’t pay me because I’m going to hit 40 every year, they paid me for what I already accomplished,” he said, according to a report from Sportsnet.

His comments riled up fans, to say the least.

Historic contact for the Jays

Guerrero signed the deal in 2025, before the Jays made their way to the World Series for the first time since 1993.

The first baseman hit eight home runs in 18 playoff games, and his response to a reporter’s question before Game 7 of the American League Championship Series, that he was “born ready,” became a rallying cry for the city.

But his recent comments to an interviewer come at a very different moment for Guerrero and the Jays.

He has been hampered this season by “various ailments,” according to Sportsnet, and “batting .263/.335/.360 with nine homers and 56 RBIs in 142 games, missing 17 contests” due to injury.

Sportsnet noted that despite those stats, Guerrero has “by and large lived up to the non-production ends of the expectations around him, playing elite defence, supporting teammates, not allowing his struggles to bleed into others.”

Players weigh in

Still, fan reaction was fierce, and former players also weighed in online.

Canadian-American player Joey Votto, who played with the Cincinnati Reds, posted “Vladdy did earn his contract. He’s a young superstar who’s going to have a fantastic career and retire as a Blue Jay and HOF player like his dad. That said, as someone that has said silly things in my past, this is not him at his best.”

Jays manager John Schneider stood behind his first baseman. “The player, the person that I know in Vlad, by no means is he just saying OK, I got paid and I’m good with that,” Schneider said, according to Sportsnet.

But former New York Mets GM Steve Phillips said on TSN Radio that if he “knew a player had that mindset when I was considering him, I don’t think I would extend him that offer,” according to a Toronto Sun report.

To make matters more heated, Guerrero didn’t back down from what he said after the interview clip went viral.