Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays avoided going to salary arbitration and agreed to a $14.5 million contract for next season on Friday.
Toronto had 12 players who could resort to arbitration and the Tampa Bay Rays is the only one with a greater number, 14 players.
The only player from that Blue Jays group who did not come to an agreement Friday was shortstop Bo Bichette.
Also accepting one-season deals were Toronto closer Jordan Romano ($4,537,500), catcher Danny Jansen ($3.5 million), right-hander Adam Cimber ($3.15 million), outfielder Daulton Varsho ($3.05 million) , infielder Cavan Biggio ($2.8 million), infielder Santiago Espinal ($2.1 million), lefty Tim Mayza ($2.1 million), righty Trevor Richards ($1.5 million), reliever Erik Swanson ($1.25 million) and right-hander Trent Thornton ($1 million).
Guerrero Jr., runner-up in 2021 AL MVP voting, earned $7.9 million last season.
The two-time All-Star had a .274 batting average, hit 32 home runs, drove in 97 runs and had an .818 OPS in 160 games. He caused an upset by winning a Gold Glove at first base.
