'Maximization' and 'Full Potential' are latest buzzwords in Vladdy Jr. runaround

DUNEDIN — The song and dance surrounding Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and his much-anticipated debut is only going to go one way.

The Toronto Blue Jays will be asked over and over in every way imaginable why a guy who’s a generational talent and almost certainly their best player won’t open the season with the club. The people asking the questions already know the answer, the Blue Jays know the answer, but the team will be forced to come up with alternative explanations that don’t involve the words “service time”.

Those alternative explanations, or possibly even alternative facts, if you’re willing to go that far, will be reported and the fanbase will be invited to engage in some justifiable skepticism.

Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

On Tuesday, that rhythm was disrupted by Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins when he went on MLB Network Radio and said the following:

The whole point of this game for Atkins is not to make headlines and keep the Vladdy Jr. indignation to a dull roar, so this was far from ideal. On Thursday, he spoke to the Blue Jays media in a session designed to provide some updates, but more than anything else to smooth over the Vladdy situation.

“My entire career has been in player development,” he explained in his first answer of the morning. “And even as a general manager I think of player in the minor leagues that way and how they can be the best possible versions of themselves. That’s what we’re focused on now.”

That began a pattern of answers that ruthlessly hammered away at the same theme for 7:16 of his 13-minute availability.

Here are a few examples (emphasis mine):

“When I think of prospects and I think of their potential, I think of their full potential. That’s what we focus on now, that’s entirely what we’re focussed on how we can in this situation help Vladdy be the best possible player he can be.”

“Whether it’s talking about his age, or where he is in his career, it is early, and we’re doing everything we can to expedite that full potential for him.”

“There aren’t many young individuals who are 200-plus pounds at 19 years old. He is a physical, physical human being, so we think of how can we maximize that.”

“We’re just trying to maximize it and do everything we can do for what’s best for him in the long term. We genuinely feel it would be a disservice to the organization and to Vladdy if we weren’t thinking of it that way to try to maximize his full potential.“

This is not what you would call a coincidence. It’s a pre-meditated talking point, not unlike you’d see in a political debate. This is the public explanation the club is sticking to.

It makes some sense because claiming his bat isn’t ready strains credulity to the point of being ridiculous. Guerrero Jr. is the best offensive prospect of this era and he hit .381/.437/.636 across 408 plate appearances in the high minors as a 19-year-old. Atkins even conceded he could hit big-league pitching today.

“Could he come up and have really good at-bats? Probably better than anyone in the minor leagues, sure.”

If you’re wondering what he said directly before that, you’ll be shocked to know that it was “we think of full potential.” But when asked about what work on baserunning and fielding work Guerrero Jr. could do in the minor leagues he couldn’t accomplish in Toronto, Atkins went right back to the talking points.

“It’s not just getting reps as a defender, getting reps as an infielder, getting reps as a baserunner it’s really just the foundation, how can he be the best possible version of himself?”

To be fair to Atkins, he’s in difficult position. He probably doesn’t enjoy being as disingenuous as this situation forces him to be. His job is to further the goals of the Blue Jays — and the Blue Jays are probably best served by using the system to their advantage in order to keep a superstar talent under team control for as long as possible.

So for weeks to come expect to hear about what Vladimir Guerrero Jr. can do to reach his full potential and maximize his talent. It sounds like a lengthy journey of development and self discovery — but here’s betting he gets it all figured out by some time in April.