Vladimir Guerrero Jr. 'very, very happy' to remain with Blue Jays - ESPN

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on Wednesday said it was a «big relief» that he and the Toronto Blue Jays were finally able to finalize a long-term deal.

«If I tell you that it's not a big relief, I'd be lying to you,» Guerrero said Wednesday. «It's always been my goal to be here. And I feel like I accomplished that, and I'm very, very happy to stay here and to be a Blue Jay.»

The 14-year, $500 million contract, which starts in 2026, includes a record $325 million signing bonus that protects the money from a possible work stoppage in 2027.

The deal was officially announced Wednesday, and a news conference is scheduled for Monday at the Rogers Centre.

Guerrero agreed in January to a $28.5 million, one-year contract that avoided arbitration, and the four-time All-Star first baseman had said he wouldn't negotiate after he reported to spring training in mid-February. Still, talks with his agent continued well into the regular season.

«It wasn't that hard,» Guerrero said of the time that it took to get the deal done. «Like, I would say maybe, I was just trusting the process, every step with my family, my agents, my close ones. I mean, have faith, everything, the outcome was going to be good. So, I mean, trust, I was trusting everything. But thank God, it went well.»

He got the third-largest contract in total dollars behind outfielder Juan Soto's $765 million, 15-year contract with the New York Mets that started this season and two-way star Shohei Ohtani's $700 million, 10-year agreement with the Los Angeles Dodgers that began last year and is heavily deferred.

Guerrero's $35.71 million average annual value under the new deal ranks eighth among current contracts.

«I've never seen an organization that's a class organization as a family,»