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Edward Rogers stepped in to get the deal done between the Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr
Photo credit: Coast Reporter
The Toronto Blue Jays have signed first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a historic 14-year, $500 million contract extension on Monday.
Rogers Communications chairman Edward Rogers was actively involved in the push to get Blue Jays star Vladimir Guerrero Jr signed to an extension.
Toronto Blue Jays President Mark Shapiro said in a recent interview that ownership is heavily involved when it comes to player transactions.
Rob Longley from the Toronto Star writes that Edward Rogers doesn't act alone and that he trusts his CEO Tony Staffieri on the business implications of any large transactions.
Clearly he also trusts Shapiro as well, given he has signed off on more than $710-million CAD to Guerrero, locking up one of the country's most popular athletes for the duration of his career. And it's also possible the man who oversees the Rogers telecommunications empire made his voice heard in the final negotiations. -Longley
Guerrero's historic extension is one of many larger transactions that have been made by the Rogers board. In recent years, they also signed off on more than $500 million in spending on renovations to the Rogers Centre and the team's player development complex in Florida.
Blue Jay President also cautioned that they aren't operating with a blank cheque and that Rogers isn't signing off on wild transactions that have no hope on bringing in revenue, which is always the top priority.
There will be a plan to help monetize the Guerrero extension as well, even with the inherent reality that the back end of the 14-year pact doesn't figure to age well. -Longley
Shapiro points to the decimation of the 2020 and 2021 COVID seasons, when there was almost no revenue coming in via attendance and uncertainty in the future. Rather than pull back, Rogers Communications charged forward and took control.
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AVRIL 8 | 4128 ANSWERS Edward Rogers stepped in to get the deal done between the Toronto Blue Jays and Vladimir Guerrero Jr Is $500 million too much for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. ? | ||
| yes | 2302 | 55.8 % |
| no | 1826 | 44.2 % |
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