Vladimir Guerrero And Lineup Protection

Could the Tigers signing Vladimir Guerrero mean better things for Prince Fielder? No, probably not.

Vladimir Guerrero Released By Jays, Still Wants To Play

It appears that we now have the Vladimir Guerrero saga straightened out. Here’s further confirmation from his agent that he’s not retiring:

vladdy’s agent bean stringfellow: "He has no intention of retiring.’’

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) June 12, 2012

And, Mr. Stringfellow explains further:

stringfellow: jays chose not to call him up & agreed to grant him his release. so vladdy will look for different opportunity

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) June 12, 2012

Here, of course, is the Shakespearean “rub”. While Guerrero hit well in the Blue Jays’ system — .313/.320/.625 in 50 at-bats with four home runs — that apparently wasn’t enough to get him a major league spot with the Blue Jays. This is understandable, as Edwin Encarnacion has been Toronto’s primary DH, and he’s hitting .290/.355/.579 with 17 home runs in 58 games.

Guerrero has played only a handful of outfield games since 2008 and not at all since 2010; he’s a DH only and there simply aren’t that many teams in the market for one.

One of them, oddly enough, might be the team that let him go at the end of 2011, the Orioles; Baltimore designated hitters have hit .258/.349/.431 this year with eight home runs. That’s decent, but who knows? Maybe Vlad could do better for them.

We still await further developments.

Vladimir Guerrero Not Retiring, Says His Agent

Earlier reports Tuesday said that former Expo, Angel and Oriole Vladimir Guerrero was going to give up on his comeback attempt for the Toronto Blue Jays, for whom he has been playing at Triple-A Las Vegas.

However, Guerrero’s agent says those reports are untrue:

Vlad’s agent, Bean Stringfellow, on talk of Vlad retiring: “Nothing further from the truth. He is hitting, running very well.” MORE #BlueJays

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 12, 2012

Asked if Vlad is opting out on #BlueJays, Stringellow said, “He has not done so. Not yet.” Added there’s no date on opt-out, said it’s open.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) June 12, 2012

Yes, there is a real person named Bean Stringfellow. He played minor league baseball in the 1980s, mostly in the Braves organization, and then became a sports agent.

In the meantime, we have conflicting reports on Vladimir Guerrero’s playing status, but you’d think his agent would know. We await confirmation one way or the other.

For more on the Blue Jays, please visit Bluebird Banter.

Vladimir Guerrero Reportedly Retiring From Baseball

One month ago, on May 10, Vladimir Guerrero signed a minor-league deal with the Toronto Blue Jays. After getting in shape, Vlad played 11 minor-league games in the Jays’ system, hitting .313/.320/.625 in 50 at-bats with four home runs.

Ready to go, right? Major-league bound?

Not so, apparently:

It appears as though the rumours are true. Apparently Vladimir Guerrero has decided to give up the comeback. #Bluejays #Jays

— Mike Wilner (@Wilnerness590) June 12, 2012

This rumor was first reported by a reader at SB Nation’s Angels blog, Halos Heaven:

Vladimir Guerrero has decided that his time with Toronto is done and likely his career. After tonight’s (yesterday) Las Vegas 51’s game, Vladimir Guerrero left the team. Speaking with management of the team and indications from Vladdy, it seemed like he was not going to get an opportunity that he wanted with the big league team anytime soon. He is likely to announce his retirement in the coming days.

The reader sourced himself; he doesn’t say where this report came from, but the tweet above appears to confirm it.

If this report is true, Guerrero finishes his major-league career hitting .318/.379/.553 with 449 home runs, 181 stolen bases and one MVP award (with the Angels in 2004).

Vladimir Guerrero Beginning Play In Games, Could Join Blue Jays Next Month

About two weeks ago, Vladimir Guerrero signed a minor-league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays.

At 37, it took him that long to get into playing shape, but now he’s going to play in actual games. Mark Zwolinski:

The veteran slugger was set to join the Class-A Dunedin Blue Jays of the Florida State League on Sunday, his first league play since he signed with the Jays two weeks ago.

“He’ll be in the lineup (Sunday). They have an off-day (Monday), so he’ll be back (in extended spring training) for the day, then back with Dunedin,” Jays manager John Farrell said Saturday.

If all goes well, Guerrero should join Double-A New Hampshire or even Triple-A Las Vegas by the end of the week, Farrell said.

The article goes on to say that Guerrero could, if all goes well, be playing for the major-league Blue Jays by June 5, which is a week from Tuesday, when the Blue Jays begin a series in Chicago against the White Sox. The Jays are hanging in there in the tough AL East, but beyond Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion, they could use some offense, and hope Guerrero will provide that.

For more on the Blue Jays, please visit Bluebird Banter.

Vladimir Guerrero, Blue Jays Agree To Contract Terms

Vladimir Guerrero is Vladimir Guerrero, but he's also 37 years old, officially. Last season, he was 36 years old, and he posted a 101 OPS+ with the Baltimore Orioles. That's not miserable production, but it's also not particularly appealing production from a designated hitter with next to no defensive value. Therefore, it didn't come as a complete surprise when Vladimir Guerrero passed the offseason not signing a contract with anybody.

Oh, there were whispers and there were feelers. Guerrero was at one point connected to the Cleveland Indians, and to the Miami Marlins, and most recently to the Arizona Diamondbacks. But nobody went so far as to sign Guerrero, because he's relatively old and relatively mediocre. Name aside, there were other options.

But now look! Guerrero has a new home! Vladimir Guerrero has signed a minor-league contract, but Vladimir Guerrero has signed a contract! For baseball!

Source: #BlueJays sign Vladimir Guerrero to minor-league deal.

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) May 10, 2012

Said Blue Jays general manager Alex Anthopoulos in February:

"Right now, we don't have any talks going on with anyone. But if somebody were to fall in our lap, would we take a look at it? Yes."

He later defined "fall in our lap" this way: "If someone were to say, 'I want to come in to camp on a minor league deal,' we'd say we're open to [bringing in] pretty much anybody. But in terms of adding a free agent on a guaranteed contract, we won't be doing that."

Well all right then. I think it's say to say that Guerrero more or less fell in the Blue Jays' lap. Guerrero was hoping to sign for millions of dollars somewhere, but his demands obviously and sensibly came down as he realized nobody was going to make that kind of commitment.

So Guerrero will report to the minors, at first. From there, the Blue Jays will evaluate what he can do. If you take a look at the major-league roster, Edwin Encarnacion has been hitting the crap out of the ball as a DH, but Adam Lind has been getting crapped on by the ball as a first baseman, and Encarnacion has some admittedly limited experience at first in the past. Maybe there's room for Guerrero. Maybe there's not. The Blue Jays are taking a shot here and they'll see where they stand in a matter of weeks.

Maybe it's kind of humiliating for a guy like Vladimir Guerrero to have to settle for a minor-league contract. Or maybe he's just ecstatic to get another shot, because he can't imagine a life without baseball, and he doesn't want to have to deal with that yet. I don't know, I'm not Vladimir Guerrero. If I were, I wouldn't be writing this.

Vladimir Guerrero Working Out For Diamondbacks

When a team's beat writer affixes the word "Uh" to the beginning of the news he's about to report, you know it's going to be pretty interesting news. And from Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic:

Uh, I guess Vlad Guerrero is going to work out for the Dbacks, per Kevin Towers on the team's broadcast.

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) April 29, 2012

Towers was on the telecast with Darron Sutton and Mark Grace when he dropped the bombshell. Well, it would have been a bombshell a few years ago. And it's not like the Diamondbacks are especially serious about pursuing Vlad; Towers will be in the Dominican Republic watching amateur players, and he figured there wasn't any harm in seeing what kind of shape Vlad is in.

Kevin Towers shrugged when asked what kind of role Vlad Guerrero could fill: "I'll have a better idea depending on what I see tomorrow."

— Nick Piecoro (@nickpiecoro) April 29, 2012

This is a GM looking at a Cutco demonstration even though he's doing just fine with knives. The Diamondbacks have A.J. Pollock as their fourth outfielder with Chris Young on the DL. When Young comes back, it's possible that the Diamondbacks will demote Pollock and stick with four outfielders. But here we are, talking about outfielders in a Vladimir Guerrero news item.

That was two years ago. I'm sure he's better now! But Piecoro added this to the story:

Towers seemed to be saying, 'What the heck? Might as well' when it comes to working out Vlad tomorrow.

Championships have been won behind the "Why not?" philosophy, so looking at the guy work out isn't a bad idea on its own.

Vladimir Guerrero Not On Marlins Radar Anymore, According To Report

Earlier, we talked about an article which said that the Miami Marlins had shown the most interest in free agent Vladimir Guerrero. It's possible that the Marlins did show the most interest in Vladimir Guerrero, but signs suggest that they're not showing that interest anymore:

Source: #Marlins not pursuing Vlad. Kicked name around, but looking at Rowand and Kearns as RH bat off bench. Vlad not a fit in role. #MLB

— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) March 2, 2012

The whole issue is that the Marlins only have bench jobs available, and Guerrero wants more than a bench job with occasional starts. I'm not sure where he's going to get that, but the answer isn't "Miami". Maybe, in time, Guerrero becomes more amenable to a smaller job. Maybe, in time, somebody ends up with an opening. The Guerrero sweepstakes are difficult to forecast, specifically because they aren't really "sweepstakes", but Vladimir Guerrero can't stay unemployed forever. Right? Right?

Vladimir Guerrero And The Miami Marlins

Vladimir Guerrero is a free agent, and the Miami Marlins have reportedly expressed some degree of interest. It's easy to see a fit, kind of.