Guerrero responds to Shapiro, says he's optimistic deal will get done

On Thursday, Blue Jays president Mark Shapiro spoke very confidently about the team's chances of re-signing the face of franchise to a long-term extension. Shortly after the Blue Jays victory against the Rays, Guerrero struck a similar tone.

Is this a change in course for Guerrero? Quite possibly. Earlier in offseason, Vladdy had said that he would end negotiations on the first day of Spring Training so as not to become a distraction during the regular season.

It would appear that the opposite has happened.

While the Blue Jays final offer before the deadline was around $500MM with significant deferrals, it came out recently that the Blue Jays were preparing to present Guerrero with another offer, one that was much more in line with his desired asking price.

Whatever the number is, it will far and away break the Blue Jays record for longest contract in franchise record.

So where does that leave negotiations?

«I'm going to leave that to my agents to work [on a contract extension]If there's something there, they're going to continue to work with that. I'm just going to be on the field, focusing on my teammates, on my team, on my game.»