Watching Blue Jays prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. swing a breath of fresh air

For the sheer prospect prurience of it all, the Toronto Blue Jays signing Domincian slugging prospect Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is nearly unprecedented.

It's not simply that the Jays, ever accountable to the Rogers accountants, handed out a $3.9-million signing bonus to a 16-year-old who has "such hitting ability and power" rarely seen in a player that age. Or that he comes with the cachet of being the spitting-image son of former Montreal Expos star and American League MVP Vladimir Guerrero, at a time when big-time sports are starting to see second-generation stars who have inherited the genetic makeup that is 99 per cent of the battle and have had access to specialized coaching (see Stephen Curry or Andrew Wiggins). It's just that Guerrero Jr., brings all that, and that swing captured in scouting videos is baseball incarnate. Just look at the swing

Rarely have the Jays had someone such as that at the intake stage of a player's career. Roberto Alomar, the only player enshrined in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a Jay, was acquired in a trade. Dave Stieb, the franchise's first true star, converted to pitching after playing centrefield in college. Carlos Delgado and Roy Halladay were homegrown, but both found stardom in stages. Delgado, signed as a catcher at age 16, had to spend extra time in the minors in order to find a nominal fielding position. Halladay, at age 22, posted a double-digit ERA in 1999 and basically had to re-learn to pitch.

And one need not even mention that Brett Lawrie was what many thought he was. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is by no means guaranteed stardom, but as a break-the-bank international free-agent signing, he's worth getting excited about it. For a Jays fan, whether he or she is old enough or was even alive the last time the team made the playoffs, or was even seriously contending in late September, it's nirvana.

Baseball stardom is traditionally harder to predict than in the other ball-and-stick sports, but you could liken it to how an Edmonton Oilers fan feels about having Connor McDavid. Or maybe it's like being a Seattle Mariners fan in 1987 when they drafted Ken Griffey Jr.

Neate Sager is a writer for Yahoo! Canada Sports. Follow him on Twitter @naitSAYger.