Jays fans have a reason to get excited and it is Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Guerrero Jr is the No. 1 prospect in baseball, according to a number of analysts. Many Jays fans wanted him to be called up last season, but he remained with triple-A Buffalo, which was mainly due to service time implications. Guerrero Jr was born on March 16, 1999, in Montreal, Quebec. When he was born, his father, Hall of Fame slugger Vladimir Guerrero, was a member of the Montreal Expos. Even though he was born in Canada, he spent most of his life in the Dominican Republic and holds dual citizenship.

Playing career

Guerrero was given $3.9 million to sign with the Blue Jays as an international free agent at the age of 16. Lately, most of the top prospects have been international free agents, with examples being Ronald Acuna Jr and Gleyber Torres. In his first professional season, which came in 2016, with Bluefield Blue Jays, in the rookie league, Guerrero slashed .271/.359/.449 with 64 hits.

2017 saw him play the whole year at single-A and slashed .323/.425/.485 with 76 RBIs and 141 hits. He also walked 76 times. 2018 saw him split time in double-A and triple-A, where Guerrero posted an absolute ridiculous slash line of .381/.437/.636 with 20 home runs, 78 RBIs, and 136 hits in 95 games. His ridiculous season led him to be named the Minor League Player of the Year.

Gurrero will likely start 2019 in the minors due to service time rules. He is expected to be called up the day the Blue Jays can guarantee to get an extra year out of him.

Modern day comparison: Josh Donaldson

If you're looking for a comparison to Vladdy Jr, look no further than a third baseman that the Jays used to employ in Josh Donaldson.

Until his injury-plagued season last year, Donaldson was one of the best players in the major leagues. To his name, Donaldson has three all-star appearances, two Silver Slugger awards, and an MVP award which he won in 2015 as a member of the Blue Jays.

In his MVP season, Donaldson slashed .297/.371/.568 with 41 home runs and 123 RBIs.

He also totaled 184 hits and 41 doubles. Donaldson and Guerrero are similar in many ways. Both play third base and are almost the same size, despite being born 14 years apart. Donaldson is 6'1 and weighs 210 pounds while Guerrero Jr is 6'1 and weighs 10 pounds less than Donaldson at 200 pounds.

While Gurrero will enter the league at a younger age than Donaldson did, Guerrero is expected to appear in many All-Star games and will compete for MVP awards and Silver Slugger awards during his major league career. Gurrero is expected to be one of the top players in the league once he joins the majors. Fangraphs is projecting Guerrero to have a slash line of .306/.368/.511 in 2019.

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