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It was one of those nights on Wednesday when there was only one late-night game, and it was over before midnight. I know some people might think I would like that since it means I can finish up this article and get to bed at a reasonable time, but I didn’t take this position to not be a baseball sicko, and I vastly prefer when I get to watch West Coast ball late into the night. At least my night game last night was the Brewers vs. Rockies game, which featured Milwaukee singlehandedly fixing their run differential (at +1 as of this morning!) with a 17-2 win that also featured some incredibly, uh, “creative” bullpen management from Bud Black. You always see something interesting when you watch baseball, I’ll tell you what.
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Today’s Headlines
Vlad Deal Details, Jays Make It Official
Although Vladimir Guerrero Jr’s deal was scooped by Ken Rosenthal two days ago, the Blue Jays made it officially official on Wednesday:
THE. FRANCHISE.
OFFICIAL: We’ve agreed to terms with 4x All-Star, 2x Silver Slugger, 2x All-MLB First Team Member, 2x Tip O'Neill Award Winner, Hank Aaron Award Winner, and Gold Glover Vladimir Guerrero Jr. on a 14-year contract extension! pic.twitter.com/BKGkidltw1
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) April 9, 2025
And with that came some details about how the deal will work exactly. Specifically, Vladito is getting a $325m signing bonus that gets paid out in installments over the life of the deal. This seems like it must be some kind of shenanigan, and could even potentially be an issue for the Canada Revenue Service if a similar case against hockey player John Tavares is any sign. Ross Atkins certainly didn’t dissuade me of this suspicion with this quote about the structure:
The benefit to the Blue Jays in paying out more in signing bonus than salary — if it exists at all — is unclear.
“There is benefit to the player that was attractive from a tax perspective and the guaranteed nature of it,” Atkins said Wednesday. “And there’s benefit to the club from an accounting perspective.”
But I’m not an accountant or a lawyer, so here are the details:
A few details on Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s contract:
◾️No deferred money, no opt outs, full no-trade
◾️Deal includes a $325-million signing bonus
◾️$20 million of that bonus is payable this year, before the contract takes effect 2026-2039
◾️Bonus is spread over duration of deal— Shi Davidi (@ShiDavidi) April 9, 2025
And while Atkins’ quote makes me furrow my brow, this quote from Vlad just makes me smile:
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was asked what advice he got from his father, and immediately started to crack a smile.“Trust god. My dad told me to trust god, and to get the last penny that I could from the organization.” #BlueJays
— Keegan Matheson (@keeganmatheson.bsky.social) 2025-04-09T20:15:35.843Z
The deal makes great sense for both sides to get done, though, as Vlad has become the face of the Jays. He’s gotten off to a somewhat slow start to the season, but after a 3-for-5 Wednesday, his line is up to .288/.367/.346 for the year, good for a 116 wRC+. He’s still searching for his first HR of 2025, but he’s hit a cool 160 of them over the last six seasons, and his career line is .288/.363/.498 (136 wRC+.)
Record Keller
We’ll talk a little more about the Pirates game below, but I want to shout out Mitch Keller for going 7.1 shutout innings, giving up only four hits to the Cardinals while walking one and punching out six. Well, not specifically for that, but for setting a franchise record during the course of his outing:
Mitch Keller is the fastest pitcher in club history to reach 700 strikeouts by innings pitched (718.1).He's also the third-fastest pitcher in team history to reach 700 strikeouts by games (136).
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@pirates.com) 2025-04-09T18:54:36.846Z
It wasn’t just a milestone day for Keller, though, but for his home park as well:
On April 9, 2001, the first game was played at the most beautiful ballpark in baseball.
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@pirates.com) 2025-04-09T14:00:52.053Z
PNC Park is definitely No.1 on my “Parks I Need To Get To” list, and hopefully, it’ll be on my “Parks I Have Been To” list before too long.
Walk-off Wednesday
Three games on Wednesday ended in pretty dramatic walk-off fashion, and we’ll hit them in chronological order.
I said I would come back to the Pirates game and now I am, although I have even more to show you further down because it was something. But that something went into the 12th inning with the score knotted up at 0-0. A balk moved Manfred Man Willson Contreras to third, and a Jordan Walker single brought him home. In the bottom of the inning, it was Ke’Bryan Hayes advancing to third on an Endy Rodríguez flyout, who was then driven in by a hotshot Tommy Pham single through the left side:
Tommy Pham strikes again ⚡️
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@pirates.com) 2025-04-09T19:38:47.274Z
The Pirates wouldn’t be able to seal the deal until the 13th, though, when with the bases loaded and one out Joey Bart absolutely clubbed one into left field:
JOEY BARRELS 👏
— Pittsburgh Pirates (@pirates.com) 2025-04-09T20:06:29.367Z
That’s 108 mph off the bat and it’s a dinger in six parks. But hey, I think he’ll take the win.
Meanwhile, in San Francisco, the Reds and Giants only had to go into the 10th with their game tied up at 6-6. Heliot Ramos flew out to advance Matt Chapman over to third base, but Mike Yastrzemski made sure he could relax on the way home with one of my favorite things in the sport: a walk-off splash hit:
Dugout angle of 1️⃣0️⃣6️⃣💧
Later, to the north, the Seattle Mariners went into the eighth inning on Wednesday down 5-0 to their division rival Astros. They managed to load the bases with nobody out, but a Mitch Garver flyout (too shallow for a run to score) and a Cal Raleigh strikeout may have had the home fans thinking their best chance of the day was about to be squandered. Enter Randy Arozarena:
Slamdy Arozarena! #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/Mbr09Y3prN
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 9, 2025
Luke Raley flew out to end the inning, so the M’s would have to settle for a one-run deficit going into the ninth. The Astros tacked on another run on a Jeremy Peña double, steal, and a wild pitch, but Seattle was only down two when they came up for their last licks. Julio Rodríguez ended his 0-for-10 with RISP streak with a two-run double:
JULIO. CLUTCH. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/KpgjSWONA5
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 9, 2025
Mitch Garver followed it up with a walk and the bases were loaded with one out. Cal Raleigh hit a grounder that turned into an out at the plate, bringing Seattle to their last out, and who did that bring up to the plate but our friend Randy. And six pitches later:
Putting the walk in walk-off. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/DrAuzlmMaU
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 9, 2025
The Randy man can. #TridentsUp pic.twitter.com/RmI05oTXvN
— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) April 9, 2025
Love a good shrimp.
Swordsman Luis
And in the last piece of news, Luis Arraez finally struck out for the first time in 2025, and it was a doozy:
Justin Sterner, Bohemian Rhapsody Sword. ⚰️🪦
On poor Arráez's Birthday…. pic.twitter.com/7dUaSvYOTT
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 9, 2025
That was his final appearance of the day, which means it took Arraez 58 plate appearances to strike out once. Not bad.
Best Moments From Yesterday
Duck, Duck, Go
Staying in Sacramento for a second, I just want to shout out this incredible camera work:
Just a smooth, beautiful take going from the play at first to the pair of ducks. I love it.
Smarter Every Day
Okay, now we’ll come back to the Cardinals/Pirates game for a final time because, like I said, things really happened.
the pirates do things all the time that you have just never seen from a major league organization. watch to the end
— Alex Kirshner (@alexkirshner.com) 2025-04-09T18:32:33.846Z
That’s a pretty bodily hit to Bart by Endy Rodríguez, and some very quick thinking by Hayes. And it didn’t stop there for the Cardinals and their plate-related woes:
The Cardinals third base coach is shaving runs
Anyway, baseball makes for some art.
Home plate being particularly elusive for the Cardinals and Pirates today.
— Justin Klugh (@justinklugh.bsky.social) 2025-04-09T19:21:39.048Z
Dog Day Afternoon
Here’s your moment of zen:
Shout out to this guy jamming like ten hot dogs in his mouth at the DBacks game lmao
— Jordan White AKA Power Wagon AKA Thiccarus (@buntsingles.bsky.social) 2025-04-09T22:07:29.815Z
Injuries and Other Moves
⚾ The Twins are likely to place Pablo López on the IL following the diagnosis of a grade one hamstring strain.
⚾ Justin Steele was dealing with “elbow discomfort” during his last start and is going on the IL for “what he thinks will be a minimum stay” but I’ll take the over. Sahadev Sharma more specifically has the injury listed as tendonitis.
⚾ In further pitching injury news, Baltimore has placed Zach Eflin on the IL retroactive to April 8 due to a right lat strain.
⚾ Texas will be without Wyatt Langford, who is headed to the IL with a right oblique strain.
⚾ Korey Lee injured his ankle yesterday, and while there’s not much detail about it at this point, the White Sox are calling up Omar Narváez to replace him on the roster.
⚾ The White Sox are also losing hot-starting Andrew Benintendi to the 10-day IL due to an adductor strain.
⚾ In better news, the Dodgers expect Freddie Freeman to be back on the field as soon as Friday.
⚾ Friday is also the “optimistic” return date for Fernando Tatis Jr. (“tweaked ankle”) and Jake Cronenworth (cramping due to being hit by a pitch), according to manager Mike Shildt.
⚾ The Yankees released a flurry of news about their injured players, with the headlines being that Clarke Schmidt is one rehab start away from a return to the rotation and that Luis Gil will start a throwing program in less than a week.
Articles You Should Read
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Forbes’ Analysis Indicates a Surprising Development. The Reason Isn’t What You Think. – Rob Mains, Baseball Prospectus (Sub req’d)
Fantasy Baseball Coverage
