Vladimir Guerrero Jr. gave a raw, unfiltered interview about his slump this season.

"They didn't pay me to hit 40 every year. They paid me for what I already did," Guerrero said.

He went further, explaining exactly how he views the contract that made him the highest-paid player in franchise history.

"I want people to understand one thing. The money they gave me wasn't for what I'm going to do. It was for what I already did. They didn't pay me because I'm going to hit 40 every year. They paid me for what I already accomplished," Guerrero said.

That's a genuinely blunt way to frame a $500 million contract during the worst offensive season of his career.

He didn't pretend the struggles haven't gotten to him personally, either.

"People are confused about that, but I think the same way they do. Like, sometimes I even say to myself: bro, they gave you all that money and you're out here doing nothing. I try."

Why the fan comments will draw the most reaction

Guerrero also addressed the relationship between performance and public support directly, in blunt terms.

"You know how it is with fans, when you're good, they're with you 100%. But when you smell like shit, like we like to say here, nobody supports you," he said.

That line is likely to generate the most reaction, a frank acknowledgment of how quickly a fan base's mood can shift based on results.

He drew a clear distinction between that conditional support and the people he considers genuinely in his corner.

"The ones who support you are the ones who stay with you. Those are my fans. My family."

This interview comes right as Toronto's season has been officially eliminated from playoff contention, a season defined in large part by Guerrero's own offensive collapse.

His comments about the contract reflect a genuine philosophical stance many athletes hold privately but rarely say publicly this directly, that big free agent deals are compensation for a track record rather than a guarantee of future performance.

Whether fans see this as honest self-awareness or a frustrating way to explain away a disappointing season is likely to divide opinion sharply.

For a player already under intense scrutiny after this year's struggles, these comments are only going to add more fuel to an already heated conversation about his season and his contract.