Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s controversial contract comments shine spotlight on SF Giants' Willy Adames and Matt Chapman

Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. made some comments recently that might be of interest to the SF Giants. He said that he feels his 14-year, $500 million mega-contract was more a reward for what he did up until earning that deal rather than what he would do after signing the deal.

The backlash was swift from Blue Jays fans which makes sense considering the team missed the playoffs and he had a pretty awful year at the plate by his standards, hitting .260/.332/.356 with just nine home runs and 57 runs batted in across 144 games. He recently apologized for the comments.

That’s not what anyone wants to hear from a star player after a terrible year when he’s just 27 years old and still has well over a decade to go on his contract. The Giants have to be thinking about the Matt Chapman and Willy Adames contracts in a similar way especially after the years they just had.

Chapman hit .235/.324/.368 with seven homers and 42 runs batted in across 84 games. Chapman had season-ending surgery on his core and is owed $100 million over the next four seasons. Adames hit .230/.289/.424 with 21 homers and 51 runs batted in over the course of 121 games. He’s owed over $150 million over the next five seasons.

Both guys tried to play through injury which is commendable in some ways and shows they want to be out there to justify those big contracts, but it probably only ended up making things worse as they both had to be shut down.

Thankfully neither of them is under contract until 2039 like Guerrero Jr. is, but both are owed a ton of money and are coming off down years. Neither would be foolish enough to say what Guerrero Jr. did, but subconsciously there has to be some sort of easing off the gas pedal after a player gets a big pay day.

Both Chapman and Adames know that they have set their families up probably for generations with the money they got in their contracts. Sure, they now want to go make the playoffs and win a World Series but the truth is they’ve already pretty much done what every baseball player could ever dream of.

Giants are in a tough spot with Willy Adames and Matt Chapman

This isn’t to suggest that they aren’t motivated or they’re just mailing it in, but it’s only human nature and it’s also only natural to expect them to decline as they age. They’re now both in their thirties and it seems clear that their respective peaks are behind them.

That’s why the Giants are in such a tough spot. They have a lot of money committed to two guys who probably aren’t getting much better than they were in 2026, and it’s not like they earned their contracts for what they did wearing Giants uniforms. Chapman got his money based on what he did with the Oakland A’s and Toronto Blue Jays before his one really solid year in 2024 with San Francisco. Adames was a beloved and solid player in Milwaukee which earned him his contract with San Francisco.

They will probably never live up to those big contracts they signed which is why Guerrero Jr.’s comments feel so pertinent to the Giants. It’s ironic that for years we complained about San Francisco’s inability to sign big free agents, but now we are learning yet again the risks and dangers of committing a lot of money to veteran players who are inevitably going to decline.

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