Guerrero ends extension talks with Blue Jays: 'I had my numbers'

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is headed for free agency at season's end after the Toronto Blue Jays couldn't agree to an extension with the star first baseman ahead of his self-imposed deadline.

"They had their numbers, I had my numbers," Guerrero told reporters Tuesday morning, according to MLB.com's Keegan Matheson.

Guerrero, who's entering his age-26 campaign, expressed a willingness and desire to stay in Toronto on multiple occasions throughout the offseason if the club met his contract demands.

The four-time All-Star said he and the Blue Jays were never close in negotiations, per Matheson.

Guerrero is coming off one of his finest seasons, slashing .323/.396/.544 with 30 home runs and 103 RBIs.

The young slugger is expected to have many big-market suitors in free agency but didn't rule out returning to Toronto.

"I want to be a Blue Jay for the rest of my career, but it's free agency, it's business. I'm going to have to listen to 29 more teams, and they're going to have to compete with that," he said, according to Sportsnet.

General manager Ross Atkins expressed his dissatisfaction with the failed negotiations.

"Obviously, very disappointed," Atkins said, according to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi. "We worked very hard. The motivation is still there. Confident that every thought, idea we had, every dollar that we had was communicated. But we're obviously disappointed to not have gotten that done."

President and CEO Mark Shapiro said the club went beyond its evaluations in an attempt to get a deal done.

"We were emotional," Shapiro said, according to Matheson. "We did value the player deeply and even went past our value because we cared so deeply about him and wanted to have him here."

Guerrero owns a career .863 OPS (137 OPS+) through six MLB seasons.