Vladimir Guerrero is a Hall of Fame right fielder and he’s currently without a job despite the fact that he wants to
play this coming year. He had made it known to the Yankees that he wanted to be their DH before Raul Ibanez was handed those duties. Guerrero still has some swings in his body and I’m absolutely convinced could help a contender in their lineup, or off the bench. The problem is that as a DH only at this stage in his career, Vlad the Impaler doesn’t line up very well with any teams especially with his desire to play for a contender. I’m sure that if he merely wanted to play this year, the Orioles would already have signed him as their DH. That said, the Toronto Blue Jays should sign Guerrero to man their DH spot.
Consider that in our season preview of the blue jays we listed Edwin Encarnacion as the primary DH. I really just don’t see where Edwin Encarnacion is a better option than Vladimir Guerrero. Encarnacion hit over .270 last year for just the third time in his 7 year career. Meanwhile, Vlad hit under .300 last year for only the second time in his career. I understand where you like a guy on the uptick of his career path, but there’s also time and place to give credence to a great hitter. Vlad is very simply a better option than Encarnacion especially when one considers Encarnacion’s primary position of third base is already manned by Brett Lawrie and backed up by Jose “I hit 97 homers the past two years” Bautista.
Additionally, let’s think about how close the Blue Jays are to getting that elusive wildcard spot. They are clearly the 4th best team in the AL East as currently put together, but may well be one of the top 10 or 12 teams in baseball. I’m convinced that Vladimir Guerrero further fortifies their lineup in a way that makes opposing pitchers really unhappy to prepare to face. I maintain that two of the scarier guys to step in a box at any times with the game on the line are Vlad Guerrero, and Juan Uribe. You just never know what those two guys are going to do. I’m not saying that Vlad puts this Blue Jays team over the hump, but at $3 million or so I think it’s worth the shot.
What if this season doesn’t work out? Vlad has made it widely known he wants to play for a contender. At the trade deadline, the Blue Jays are 10 games behind the Rays for the second wild card spot and think they may be better served with an additional pitcher. I see where Vlad could be traded to a number of National League teams who were previously uninterested because of Vlad’s DH only status. Vlad could bring alot to the Giants off the bench, or to the Marlins, or some other team looking for late inning pinch hitting.
There’s legitimately no scenario where signing Vlad goes wrong for the Blue Jays… unless of course he can’t hit anymore.
-Sean Morash
