Blue Jays’ Shapiro on Guerrero Jr. contract talks: ‘I think we’re going to sign him’

Toronto Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro is downplaying concerns that a contract stalemate with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. could lead to the superstar slugger departing the team next winter.

Speaking at the club’s spring training complex on Thursday, Shapiro said his “overarching feeling” about Guerrero contract talks “is one of optimism.”

“I think we’re going to sign him. I think we’re going to extend him,” Shapiro said, according to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi. “The reason I feel that way is because we have such a clear alignment on the desired outcome.”

Guerrero projects to be the most high-profile player on the free agent market after this upcoming season. The 26-year-old combines power and plate awareness with the fact that he is just entering his prime to become someone any team would want to sign.

Guerrero and his representatives had previously given the Blue Jays a deadline of Feb. 18 — the day all players reported for spring training — to get a deal done. While the two sides dug into negotiations in the days leading up to it, that deadline passed without an agreement.

It has since been reported by Sportsnet, The Athletic and The New York Post that the gap in talks was around $50 million.

“The challenge has been, that area we’ve talked about before, finding the sweet spot of sharing risk,” Shapiro said Thursday.

“What defines that sweep spot? Different contracts, different moments in time that make it more of a challenge or less of a challenge, ultimately, sometimes free agency provides the clearest answer to that.”