Right now, there isn’t much going on across Major League Baseball.
A fast start to the off-season that saw over $2 billion spent in free agency and contract extensions came crashing to a halt in early December as Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association were unable to agree to a new collective bargaining agreement before its expiration.
Subsequently, the owners voted unanimously to enact a lockout, effectively shutting down the business of baseball until a new CBA is reached. And who knows when that will be.
With tensions already high between the two sides after they didn't agree on a restructured framework for the shortened 2020 season, multiple reports indicate they’re just as far apart this time and it could be weeks – if not months – before things are rectified. With fewer than two months until pitchers and catchers report for 2022 spring training, the clock is ticking. But all we can do it wait.
Well, that, and revisit the year that was, which was one of the most fun for Canadian baseball fans in recent memory.
As part of TSN.ca’s Year in Review series, here is a look back at the breakout of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., a wild season for the Toronto Blue Jays and a renaissance 2021 for Joey Votto.
Guerrero powers Blue Jays to fun, memorable season
Not long after the Blue Jays signed Guerrero as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2015 did expectations start to accumulate. After tearing through the minors with a highlight reel longer than most big leaguers, Vlad Jr. made his much-anticipated debut in April of 2019. As there often is for players seeing big league pitching for the first time, there was an adjustment period. Guerrero finished his rookie year hitting .272 with 15 homers and 69 driven in but went deep just twice over his final 44 games. Not bad by any means, but not quite what fans were expecting.
Year two was more of the same as Guerrero shifted from third base to first and bounced between mediocre to slightly above average at the plate. While it was clear Guerrero would be a key piece for the Jays moving forward (24 homers .778 OPS in his first 183 games), questions were starting to emerge about whether or not he was the franchise cornerstone many were expecting.
He put those doubts to rest in 2021.
Vlad Jr. went to work on his body over the winter and came into camp a lot more mobile, saying he shed 42 pounds since the previous summer.
"One day at my house in the Dominican I just sat down and thought about all this. I decided right then that I was going to get ready, I was going to prepare myself, I was going to work very hard for this year. I did, because my main focus is just to be ready and help the team win,” Guerrero said in February through a translator.
He came out of the gate on fire.
Guerrero was hitting .338 with a 1.035 OPS through his first 21 games of the season, but what he did in game 22 signified to all of baseball how dangerous he’d become.
Toronto’s slugger torched the Washington Nationals for three home runs – two coming off Max Scherzer, including a grand slam – and seven RBIs as the Blue Jays rolled to a 9-5 victory.
Guerrero’s father, a Hall-of-Famer himself, couldn’t have been more proud.
“What a night for my boy. All that hard work is paying off,” the former Montreal Expos legend tweeted.