DUNEDIN, Fla. — First baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and the Toronto Blue Jays failed to come to terms on a contract extension prior to his Monday night deadline, paving the way for the 25-year-old star to hit free agency in November.

“They have their numbers; I have my numbers,” Guerrero said Tuesday.

Guerrero, a four-time All-Star and son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, said he had set a deadline of 9 p.m. Monday, but the last call from the Blue Jays came at 10:30 p.m. When asked if the team was close to what he was asking, Guerrero simply said, “No.”

Without a deal in place, Guerrero said he plans to cut off talks and play out the season as an impending free agent, but he also said later that he “won’t close the door” on a “realistic” offer from the Blue Jays.

“Listen, I want to be here. I want to be a Blue Jay for the rest of my career,” Guerrero said. “But it’s free agency. It’s business. So I’m going to have to listen to 29 more teams and they’re going to have to compete for that.”

The inability to strike a deal is the latest blow for the Blue Jays, whose pursuit of franchise-caliber talent in recent years was a black mark for the franchise. Toronto’s heavy recruitment of two-way star Shohei Ohtani and outfielder Juan Soto wound up in disappointment, as they signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, respectively, and the potential departure of their best homegrown talent since Hall of Famer Roy Halladay is even more acute.

“Soto’s deal had nothing to do with my decision at all,” Guerrero said. “Even before that, I knew my value. I knew my number.”

Guerrero said the Blue Jays had known about his deadline since last season, and he didn’t want negotiations to carry into spring training and become a distraction.

“I don’t want — especially my teammates — to go through any distractions,” Guerrero said. “I’m here today, I’m ready and want to win a lot of games, and I want to make it to the playoffs. That’s all.”

Toronto could explore a trade for Guerrero, who would warrant one of the biggest returns in recent memory. The Blue Jays, sources said, are more inclined to start the season with Guerrero in their lineup and reassess the possibility of a trade as the July deadline approaches.

Guerrero, meanwhile, said there’s no animosity toward the Jays’ front office.

“I love the city. I love the fans,” Guerrero said. “I mean, it’s hard, but at the end of the day, like I say, it’s business. I’ll do everything that I have to stay here with the Blue Jays. I love it here. I want to be here.”

Over his six seasons in Toronto, Guerrero has developed into one of the game’s most fearsome hitters. Last season, he hit .323/.396/.544 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs. And come November, big-market suitors are expected lavish him with some of the largest contract offers in baseball history.

In the wake of the 15-year, $765 million contract the Mets this winter gave to Soto — who, along with Guerrero and Fernando Tatis Jr., were part of the all-time-great international signing class in 2015 — the potential free agent jackpot for Guerrero exceeds what the Blue Jays were willing to offer.

They had tried to lock Guerrero up long-term for years to no avail. With the deadline looming, negotiations that had been sporadic over the winter picked up this week with hopes of striking a deal.

Without one in place, Guerrero will report to the Blue Jays’ first full workout Tuesday with the specter of his free agency bound to loom over Toronto’s season after a last-place finish in the American League East last year.

Since he debuted shortly after his 20th birthday in 2019 and homered 15 times as a rookie, Guerrero has been one of baseball’s most-recognized players. His breakout season came in 2021, when Guerrero finished second to Aaron Judge in American League MVP voting, hitting .311/.401/.601 with 48 home runs and 111 RBIs.

Guerrero followed with a pair of solid-but-below-expectations seasons in 2022 and 2023, and in mid-May of last season, he sported an OPS under .750 as the Blue Jays struggled en route to an eventual last-place finish. Over his last 116 games, the Guerrero of 2021 reemerged, as he hit .343/.407/.604 with 26 home runs and 84 RBIs.

Between Guerrero and shortstop Bo Bichette‘s free agency after the 2025 season, the Blue Jays faced a potential reckoning. While Bichette will play out the season and is widely expected not to re-sign with the Blue Jays, the team had hoped an extension for Guerrero would give them a franchise player around whom they could build.

With a payroll expected to exceed the luxury tax threshold of $241 million, the Blue Jays will field a team with playoff aspirations — and one that just as easily could find itself toward the bottom of the standings, with the defending AL champion New York Yankees, much-improved Boston Red Sox, always-solid Tampa Bay Rays and young-and-talented Baltimore Orioles in the same division.

Already this winter, Toronto shook off the signings of Soto and first baseman Pete Alonso with the Mets, left-hander Max Fried with the Yankees and infielder Alex Bregman with the Red Sox to retool their roster. Toronto gave outfielder Anthony Santander a heavily deferred five-year, $92.5 million contract, brought in future Hall of Famer Max Scherzer on a one-year, $15.5 million deal, bolstered their bullpen with right-handers Jeff Hoffman and Yimi Garcia, and traded for Platinum Glove-winning second baseman Andres Gimenez.

Toronto’s long-term commitments will allow for significant financial flexibility going forward — particularly if they re-allocate the hundreds of millions they offered Guerrero. In addition to Guerrero, Bichette and Scherzer, right-hander Chris Bassitt and relievers Chad Green and Erik Swanson are free agents following this season. Following 2026, the nine-figure deals of outfielder George Springer and right-hander Kevin Gausman come off the books as well.

Building around Guerrero would have been a good place to start. One of only a dozen players in MLB with at least two seasons of six or more Wins Above Replacement since 2021, Guerrero consistently finds himself near the top of MLB leaderboards in hardest-hit balls, a metric that typically translates to great success.

Like his father, who hit 449 home runs and batted .318 over a 16-year career, Guerrero has rare bat-to-ball skills, particularly for a player with top-of-the-scale power. In his six MLB seasons, Guerrero has hit .288/.363/.500 with 160 home runs, 507 RBIs and 551 strikeouts against 349 walks over 3,540 plate appearances.

“My dad played a lot of years, and he never won the World Series,” Guerrero said. “And I always say my personal goal is to win a World Series and gave the ring to my dad. So that’s all I’m looking for.”

Originally a third baseman, Guerrero shifted to first base during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season. Had the Blue Jays signed Alonso, they signaled the possibility of Guerrero returning full-time to third, where he played a dozen games last year.

Without an extension in place, the 6-foot-2, 245-pound Guerrero will have to wait to reset a market that previously had been topped by the eight-year, $248 million extension Miguel Cabrera signed just shy of his 31st birthday in 2014.

Teams without long-term first-base solutions beyond 2025 that could target Guerrero, who turns 26 in March, include the Yankees (Paul Goldschmidt is on a one-year deal) and Mets (Alonso can opt out of his two-year contract following the season).

FORT WORTH, Texas — While Cam Ward hasn’t decided if he will throw at the NFL combine next week, the quarterback knows how he will answer any scouts or team personnel who ask him if he quit on the Miami Hurricanes by not finishing his final game with the team.

“OK, you’re either going to draft me or you’re not,” Ward said Monday night before receiving the Davey O’Brien Award as the nation’s top college quarterback. “If you don’t draft me, that’s your fault. You’ve got to remember you’re the same team that’s got to play me for the rest of my career, and I’ll remember that.”

Ward was showered with online criticism suggesting that he quit on the Hurricanes after he didn’t play the second half of the Pop-Tarts Bowl — a 42-41 loss to Iowa State — in December. He broke the NCAA Division I record for career touchdown passes before halftime.

The quarterback, who could be the first player selected in the NFL draft in April, said the decision to not play in the second half of that bowl game was predetermined by him and the coaching staff.

“I just think we all got what we needed out of it. They seen things that they think they need to work on … for this season coming up. And they also knew, you know, what I had on the line,” Ward said. “We feel like we’re doing what’s best for the program and myself. I mean, it was a hard decision, especially when, you know, some guys on our team didn’t play who I thought should have played. It was also, you know, those guys thought about their future the same way I thought about mine.”

Miami coach Mario Cristobal has defended Ward. Last month, he called the accusations of Ward quitting on the team “a false narrative.”

“If I could do it again, I’d do it the same way,” Ward said Monday, though he later added, “I wish we could have ended up winning the game. If we had won the game, they wouldn’t have said nothing. And so, that’s usually how it goes. And you know, you just got to take it on the chin and just keep pushing.”

With the first of his three touchdown passes in the Pop-Tarts Bowl, during which he threw for 190 yards to push Miami to a 31-28 halftime lead, Ward set the Division I — FBS and FCS — record at 156 touchdowns, one more than Houston‘s Case Keenum (2007 to 2011). Miami used Emory Williams at quarterback in the second half. The Hurricanes have since added former Georgia quarterback Carson Beck as a transfer.

Ward finished his college career with 158 TD passes, and his 18,189 passing yards — 6,908 at Incarnate Word, 6,968 at Washington State and 4,313 at Miami — is third most in NCAA history, behind only Keenum and Dillon Gabriel. In his lone season with Miami, Ward set single-season school record for yards, completions (305), touchdown passes (39) and completion rate — both for a season and a career, at 67.2%.

As for the upcoming combine, Ward said he hadn’t come up with a plan of what he would do next week in Indianapolis. He does plan to throw at Miami’s pro day.

The Davey O’Brien Award ceremony came about three weeks after Ward accepted the Manning Award. He followed Jayden Daniels, the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner who also won both of those quarterback awards before being the No. 2 draft pick last year then leading the Washington Commanders to the NFC Championship Game.

“To see him succeed,” Ward said of Daniels, “is motivating for not only myself but all of the other quarterbacks.”

Philip Montgomery has been hired as the Virginia Tech‘s offensive coordinator, the school announced.

Montgomery is the former head coach at Tulsa who has coordinated at both Auburn and Baylor, where he helped author consistent and prolific offenses. He spent last season as the co-offensive coordinator of the Birmingham Stallions.

Montgomery is best known for being the head coach for eight seasons at Tulsa, where he went 43-53 over eight years, including a 10-3 season in 2016 and four bowl appearances.

He earned that head coaching job after being the offensive coordinator during a run of dynamic and productive offense at Baylor, where he worked from 2008 to 2014.

He was the quarterback coach and co-offensive coordinator for Robert Griffin III, including during his Heisman Trophy season in 2011. He went on to become the lone offensive coordinator from 2012 to 2014 at Baylor, with Baylor finishing No. 1 nationally in total offense during his final two seasons there. They ranked No. 2 in total offense in 2012.

In 2016 at Tulsa, the school became the first FBS team to have a 3,000-yard passer (Dane Evans) and two 1,000-yard rushers (James Flanders and D’Angelo Brewer).

Along with coaching Griffin at Baylor, Montgomery also coached Big 12 Player of the Year Bryce Petty at Baylor, star quarterback Nick Florence at Baylor and both Kevin Kolb and Case Keenum at Houston.

He replaces Tyler Bowen, who left for Ohio State to become the offensive line coach and run-game coordinator there.