Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is now the highest-paid first baseman in the major leagues

After signing a mega-extension with the Blue Jays at the beginning of the season, Guerrero was often criticized for not living up to being the $500MM man.

His iconic postseason changed his narrative.

Now, he is set to enter 2026 at the highest paid first baseman in baseball.

Guerrero's extension doesn't officially go into effect until next year and thus was making his arbitration-set salary of $28.5MM in 2025.

That put him roughly $2M behind Pete Alonso for the 2nd highest paid player at his position.

He is set to make just over $40MM in 2026.

His salary is third highest overall in terms of payroll, behind Juan Soto's $61.875MM and Zack Wheeler's $42MM.

Additionally, his overall contract value of $500MM is third behind Soto and Shohei Ohtani.

There are several ways of calculating what someone's contract is worth.

There payroll value, Average Annual Value (AAV), Luxury Tax, and Base Salary, just to name a few examples.

When taking all measurements into affect, Guerrero's contract lands somewhere within the top 10 in baseball.

Those above him are usually Soto, Ohtani, Aaron Judge and a handful of pitchers.

After hitting .292 with only 23 home runs and 64 RBIS, many Blue Jays were question if Guerrero was really worth the $500MM the Blue Jays committed.

However, Vlad's performance in the playoffs have eased some of those concerns.

Now, it's time for Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to lean into it.