Vlad be nimble: Is Guerrero on track for 3B?

TORONTO -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. didn’t excel at third base as a rookie, but this offseason, he’s been working to swing that narrative.

The Blue Jays are entertaining this campaign for a few different reasons. There’s value in having Guerrero as an option at third base if he can even play a passable brand of defense, but beyond that, Toronto simply believes in his physical tools, especially as he improves his physique. This means his throwing arm, his hands and, well, his feet.

“He can probably dance,” said general manager Ross Atkins on Thursday. “He’s got good feet. I’m sure he can dance.”

• Vlad Guerrero Jr. celebrates with a dance

Guerrero’s defense was more square dance than ballet in 2019. He stepped on some toes -- often his own -- but those brief flashes are what keep the Blue Jays hanging on to this idea. Guerrero does have a strong arm and good hand-eye coordination, and while he isn’t about to trade in cleats for tap shoes, he’s more nimble than most think.

The defensive problems have arisen when Guerrero tries to put it all together in a live game. When these fundamentals all come together, particularly when Guerrero was forced to charge balls, his defense was less than the sum of its parts. Atkins believes that can change, though, particularly with the work Guerrero is putting in.

“If you have the hands and you have the footwork and you have the confidence, not only in your arm strength, but your arm accuracy, then you can slow things down,” Atkins said. “Many infield experts actually think it starts with the arm, the strength and the accuracy. Vladdy has one of the stronger arms in the game. His arm strength is elite. It’s not too dissimilar to his bat speed.”

Atkins described all of this as a lofty goal that Guerrero is “on track to reach.” Part of Guerrero’s campaign is playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic with Leones del Escogido, where he’ll see the majority of his reps at third base. A majority share of third base with the Blue Jays remains difficult to envision, but the flexibility to play there once a week could be considered a win.

Let’s not forget, though, that Guerrero wasn’t exactly Keith Hernandez at first base in 2020. Is there any concern for the Blue Jays, then, that Guerrero’s push to return to third is costing him valuable development time at first?

“Yes. Of course,” Atkins said. “We have to balance that, but it’s worth it. It’s worth the concern. It’s worth the risk for the upside of him being able to play third base.”

Sense of 'momentum' difficult to project
Atkins, like assistant general manager Joe Sheehan on Monday, said that Toronto feels a sense of momentum growing through the virtual Winter Meetings. Pinning down just how close the Blue Jays are to a deal is more complicated, though.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re weeks away. Having said that, sometimes it still takes weeks even when things get close,” Atkins said. “Some of the people and agents I respect the most, they say the exact same things to me as we talk about timelines. There’s too many factors for us to say that we think something is going to happen in a certain time period.”

The market has been slow across baseball. If George Springer, J.T. Realmuto and DJ LeMahieu were all off the board, worry would be warranted, but the Blue Jays still need to be ready to pounce when decision time rolls around. They did reach that stage earlier in the offseason on a potential deal, with the club putting out an offer that they told the player's representatives was “the best we can do,” but it wasn’t enough in that situation.

"We feel very good about opportunities getting closer to decisions that need to be made,” Atkins said.

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Areas of strength in Minor Leagues
As the Blue Jays explore potential trade opportunities, their own farm system, ranked No. 7 in the league by MLB Pipeline, could be a strength. The club is particularly deep with starting pitching prospects, catching prospects and shortstop prospects.

“The group of young pitching and the portion of our roster that hasn’t graduated yet to the Major Leagues is an area that has been attractive to the industry,” Atkins said, “and it certainly is to us.”