Blue Jays Backed to Beat Giants 3-2 as Cease, Webb Set Up Low-Scoring Duel

Q: Is Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s $500 million contract already the worst deal in baseball history?

No. It is far too early to call Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s 14-year, $500 million deal the worst contract in baseball history. The case against it right now is obvious. In year one of the extension, Guerrero has been a major part of Toronto’s offensive problem. The Blue Jays are 43-49, rank near the bottom of MLB in runs scored, and Guerrero has only 3-4 home runs through roughly the first half. His power indicators have slipped: the barrel rate is down to about 7.1%, his chase rate is at a career high, and he is producing too many hard-hit ground balls. For a player making more than $35 million annually, that is a serious underperformance. But “worst in history” requires much more than a bad half-season. Guerrero is only in the first year of the contract, and he has a strong track record: multiple All-Star selections, elite peak production, and a dominant 2025 postseason in which he hit .397/.494/.795 with eight home runs. Even this season, Toronto’s issues are broader than one player, including a lineup-wide scoring failure and injuries that have strained the roster. Historically, truly disastrous MLB deals usually combine years of poor production, injuries, or complete collapse. Contracts often cited in that category include Barry Zito’s with the Giants and Chris Davis’s with the Orioles. Guerrero’s deal may become a problem if this level of production continues, but on July 8, 2026, the evidence supports concern, not a definitive historical verdict.

3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 8

Toronto is picked to edge San Francisco in a tight, low-scoring game, with the matchup framed as one of the day’s strongest pitching duels.
Dylan Cease brings a 5-4 record, 2.79 ERA and 1.18 WHIP after seven scoreless-quality innings with nine strikeouts in his last start, and Giants hitters are 21-for-82 against him.
Logan Webb is 5-6 with a 3.66 ERA and 1.17 WHIP, but he was hit hard at Coors Field last time out; Blue Jays hitters own a .333 average against him over 51 at-bats.
Both offenses have underperformed—Toronto is 27th in runs despite a mid-pack batting average, while San Francisco has scored only slightly more—supporting the expectation of limited scoring.
The pick comes with Toronto at 43-49 and still trying to recover from last season’s World Series disappointment, while the Giants’ uneven year has already fueled trade-deadline speculation.