Music: {allcanada} Blue Jays sign Guerrero to minor-league deal

Thursday, May 10, 2012

{allcanada} Blue Jays sign Guerrero to minor-league deal

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TORONTO - The Toronto Blue Jays signed veteran free agent slugger Vladimir Guerrero to a minor-league contract on Thursday in an intriguing move for a team fighting through offensive inconsistencies this year.

Guerrero, 37, has been on the sidelines waiting for the right opportunity and if he shows well enough to regain some of his 2011 form - when he hit .290/.317/.416 with 13 homers and 63 RBIs in 145 games with Baltimore - would potentially give the Blue Jays the option of sitting Adam Lind against right-handers and using Edwin Encarnacion at first base and retain more thump in the lineup.

As well, he may also provide another option at DH should Lind not find his stroke and Encarnacion be shifted to first base on a regular basis.

At the moment, all that is putting the cart before the horse. Guerrero must first convince the Blue Jays he has something left in the tank before they decide if he's a piece of the puzzle or not.

"I wouldn't bring someone in on a guaranteed contract without knowing how they would fit," general manager Alex Anthopoulos said on a conference call. "But (for Guerrero) there's no timeline for a call-up, there are no out clauses, there are no guaranteed dollars, there's no point even spending time on that because I don't even know what we have.

"I have no idea how Vlad looks, I have no idea what kind of shape he's in, other than from what I've heard, and we have a lot of time to do that. And things change so fast over the course of the year, players get hurt, players don't perform, players get traded. All those things can happen.

"For Vlad to get to extended spring training, and finally get into games, and hopefully get up to (double-A) New Hampshire or (triple-A) Las Vegas, that's going to take some time, and that point, who knows where the club is at. There's now downside but it does give us options if things come up."

Should he make the club, Guerrero will be paid a pro-rated portion of US$1.3 million.

Guerrero is essentially a DH only now, having last played the field with Texas in 2010, and only 18 games at that.

"We'll get to lay eyes on him, see what kind of shape he's in, we'll see how he moves, we'll take a look in the outfield, we'll take a look at DH, we'll just see what he has," said Anthopoulos. "Based on where he played last year, he played exclusively at DH."

He will report to extended spring training in Dunedin, Fla., to work his way into game shape.

The move comes about 10 days after the Tampa Bay Rays signed Hideki Matsui to a minor-league deal.