Vladimir Guerrero, the former All-Star outfielder now on the brink of election to Cooperstown, has poured cold water on the suggestion that he'd prefer to wear a Montreal Expos cap on his plaque instead of representing the Los Angeles Angels.
Jesse Guerrero, purported to be Vladimir's agent, said Monday that the 2004 AL MVP's preference would be to represent the Expos, his team for the first eight seasons of his career. The Expos moved from Montreal to Washington and were renamed the Nationals in 2005.
Related - Agent: Guerrero prefers to join Hall of Fame as Expo
But in a statement posted to his Facebook account Tuesday, Vladimir declared that Jesse doesn't represent him, and rejected the idea that he'd made a decision about his plaque.
"For 16 years I represented these shirts with lots of pride, for which I will always be grateful for their lifelong treatment," Guerrero wrote in Spanish, as translated by theScore. "Expos, Angels, Rangers, and Orioles are part of the blood that pumps in my heart. Because of that, when the moment arrives to be recognized as a member of the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, everyone will know my decision.
"With this I deny the declarations made by Mr. Jesse Guerrero yesterday about the team with which I want to represent in a possible election of immortality. Mr. Guerrero isn't my representative nor my agent."
Guerrero has something of a legitimate case to represent either the Expos or Angels on his plaque. While he played more years (eight) and had better statistical seasons with the Expos, his MVP award and the majority of his postseason success came as an Angel.
| Team | Seasons | OPS | H | HR | WAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Expos | 8 (96-03) | .978 | 1215 | 234 | 34.6 |
| Angels | 6 (04-09) | .927 | 1034 | 173 | 22.8 |
If he goes in as an Expo, he'll be the fourth and final inductee to represent the defunct Quebec team, joining Gary Carter (2003), Andre Dawson (2010), and Tim Raines (2017).
An Angels cap would make for a historic moment in the Hall's history, as Guerrero would become the first inductee to wear an Angels cap in the franchise's 57-year history. All 12 Hall of Famers who played for the Angels during their careers wear other teams' caps on their plaques. Though the Hall does list the Angels as Nolan Ryan's "primary team," Ryan chose to wear a Texas Rangers hat.
Guerrero could also choose to play fair for both sides and ask for a blank cap, echoing Greg Maddux's decision in 2014.
The argument may be moot regardless of Guerrero's personal preference, though, as the final decision will ultimately be made by the Hall itself.
Guerrero accumulated 94.5 percent of the vote on all publicly released ballots as of Tuesday afternoon, according to Ryan Thibodaux's ballot tracker, virtually assuring his election Wednesday.
