Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s recent behaviour should raise a red flag for Blue Jays

You know that look a teenager gets when they realize they’ve upset everyone, and must make amends, but don’t see what they’ve done wrong, and are apologizing under duress? That was the look Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had as he said sorry on Friday.

It had been a couple of days since Guerrero bemused just about everyone in baseball with his unique take on how contracts work. The thesis statement – “The money [Toronto] gave me wasn’t for what I’m going to do. It was for what I already did.”

Given a chance to walk those initial comments back, Guerrero dug in – “I don’t regret myself.”

That was Wednesday. On Friday, speaking through translator Hector Lebron, he led with, “I regret my comments the other day.”

Perhaps you have seen video of the two diametrically conflicting statements. I leave it to you to decide which you find more credible. So what happened between now and then?

“I just gave it some thought, and I just feel like the comments I made the other day is not what I really wanted to say.”

So what did you mean to say?

The answer, per Lebron: “Obviously, what I meant, I mean, it’s been a disappointing year for me. I couldn’t help my team more to accomplish our goal. It’s just hard for me. Again, that’s the main reason I’m here, to apologize to everyone for my comments, knowing that I’m very disappointed about my year.”

Somehow, I picture a man with a pocket watch, waving it in front of Guerrero’s face, chanting, “You’re sorry for the comments. You’re sorry for the comments. You’re sorry for the comments.”

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A few things occur to you. I’m sure Guerrero does regret the comments. I’m equally sure he still thinks they were correct. Having given it all this thought, and then come out to debase himself in front of the media, he still couldn’t bring himself to make up a story about why he was wrong. That can only be because he believes he is right. It would be a lot easier to respect him for sticking to his guns, however bizarre his opinion, than it is to do so while watching him weasel his way back into good standing with a transparently phoney apology. His contempt for the people who pay his salary is obvious in both instances.

What was really interesting though was a small aside that had nothing to do with regret. Guerrero was asked who at the club had talked to him about the situation in the last couple of days.

“To be honest with you, I haven’t heard comments from anyone here,” he said.

If that’s true, then I think we have triangulated the Jays’ real problem here.

On paper, the guy’s your best player. He will be the face of the franchise for the next 13 years – which is more than a baseball generation. If you’re young now, you won’t be by the time Guerrero leaves Toronto.

He has had a miserable season that could very well be a harbinger of what’s to come. If so, that would make this one of the worst contracts in sports history. The least he could have done is show some humility about his failings. Instead, he waits until the end of the year and starts pulling the pins on a bucketful of PR grenades. The whole Dirty Dozen treatment. And nobody in your organization says anything to him about it?

It’s been several days. And you’ve been doing what? Avoiding locking eyes with him as you pass him in the hallway?

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Obviously, there is something wrong with Guerrero. You don’t go directly from being the player he was last October to the player he has been for the entirety of this year. Maybe it’s physical, but if so, why did he continue to play? Maybe it’s mental, and if so, that’s more of an issue. Maybe it’s behavioural, and that’s the scariest option for the Jays.

But there is just as obviously something going on with the Jays’ culture as well. At a guess, Guerrero has become the team’s errant, golden child. Everyone’s terrified of upsetting him. Unfortunately, he doesn’t feel he owes the team the same courtesy.

That is a more serious problem than one incredibly tone-deaf comment.

Everybody accepted that giving Guerrero a 14-year deal wasn’t going to look great toward the end. What they didn’t expect is that it was going to look so bad – as well as so strange, and so fraught – after the first few months. They should probably work that out. Maybe someone in charge could try calling Guerrero in the off-season. They may learn a lot.