Vlad’s incredible turnaround nets him a place on the All-MLB First Team

TORONTO -- Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has been voted to the All-MLB First Team presented by MGM Rewards at first base, an accolade that captures the young star’s incredible turnaround in 2024.

The All-MLB honors, established in 2019, recognize baseball’s best at each position based on regular-season play. This is Guerrero’s second time being named to the First Team, following 2021, when he finished runner-up to Shohei Ohtani for the AL MVP Award.

• Past All-MLB winners

Turn the clock back six months, though, and this wasn’t the direction Guerrero’s season was headed.

Vladdy hit just three home runs with a .678 OPS through April, and while that’s not nearly enough of a sample size to capture a player’s season, it continued an underwhelming trend from his ‘22 and ‘23 seasons. Each of those campaigns was just fine by most players’ standards -- they’d be career years for many -- but not Guerrero, who remains one of the most gifted hitters on the planet, and who on Tuesday was awarded a Silver Slugger, the second of his career (2021).

Finally, it all came back together for Guerrero, who re-established himself not only as one of the game’s most feared hitters but as the undisputed face of the franchise. After tearing through the summer, Guerrero finished the season batting .323 with 30 home runs and a .940 OPS. Those numbers don’t quite reach his peak from 2021, when he hit 48 homers with a 1.002 OPS, but he proved over the final months of ‘24 that he’s still capable of doing that.

This all makes the next 12 months even more interesting in Toronto.

Guerrero, like his longtime running mate Bo Bichette, is entering his final year of club control and is scheduled to be a free agent this time next year. Another season like 2024 would make him one of the most sought-after free agents in years, particularly at his age, but the Blue Jays still have time to lock him up long-term and keep the beloved first baseman with the only organization he’s ever known. That decision will continue to hang over the club until there’s a resolution one way or the other, and the Blue Jays’ offseason moves in the coming months will be shaped by it.

Guerrero will turn 26 just prior to Opening Day 2025, and he’s grown from the big kid we all knew as baseball’s “next big thing” into a veteran of sorts in the clubhouse. He’s matured, stepped into a leadership role and become one of the first points of contact for any young player walking through the doors.

Regardless of what lies beyond 2025, though, Guerrero is vital to Toronto’s chances next season. This iteration of the Blue Jays has reached the postseason three times (2020, ‘22, ‘23) but fallen short each time, losing 0-2 in the Wild Card Series. So much needs to be done for the Blue Jays to get over that hump, which is what they’ll spend the coming months working on, but Guerrero is a player deserving of the game’s biggest stage, where we saw such fellow All-MLB First Team members as Aaron Judge, Juan Soto, Shohei Ohtani and Mookie Betts shine this postseason.