It appears that we now have the Vladimir Guerrero saga straightened out. Here’s further confirmation from his agent that he’s not retiring:
Vladimir Guerrero Released By Jays, Still Wants To Play
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.
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