It’s a 10-minute walk between the Rogers Centre and Scotiabank Arena and the denizens of both venues largely enjoy a harmonic relationship, a nonintrusive symbiosis in the heart of the city.

There’s a natural tendency to leave other sports alone, cross-sport comparisons can often go awry but the Toronto Blue Jays inadvertently provided the Toronto Maple Leafs with a timely reminder Tuesday morning: sign your stars to extensions before it’s too late, or run the risk of losing the trust of your fan base.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. was considered as the consensus best prospect in baseball, and the Blue Jays signed him when he was a 16-year-old phenom. Guerrero Jr., by all accounts, has exceeded expectations, with four consecutive All-Star appearances, and is arguably the best first baseman in the world. He’s 25 years old, he’s firmly in the middle of his prime and he’s the type of player you pray your franchise can land organically, with ample reason to celebrate if he wants to stick around for the long haul.

Ross Atkins and Mark Shapiro, the much-maligned brain trust behind the Blue Jays, allowed their own internal valuations to take precedence over an offer that Guerrero found tenable, and he’s going to listen to all 29 other teams when free agency comes around at the end of the 2025 season. It’s an inexact comparison, as there’s no salary cap in baseball, but the Blue Jays have ample financial resources and have nothing to show for it over the past decade.

Let this be a reminder to the Maple Leafs: sign Mitch Marner to an extension or find a willing trade partner before it’s too late. Marner isn’t an exact comparable, but he’s currently tied for fourth in NHL scoring, he’s stated several times that he wants to remain with the Maple Leafs, and homegrown talent doesn’t just fall into your lap, especially when you’re a contending team that has failed to meet expectations in the playoffs. It takes both parties of course, and the prevailing logic dictates that Marner is betting on himself, but if the Maple Leafs allow Marner to walk away for nothing, they will surely regret it.

“I’m obviously very disappointed. We worked very hard. The motivation is still there,” Atkins told reporters Tuesday. That simply isn’t good enough. Imagine if Brad Treliving provided the same rationale, with Marner testing free agency this summer? It would be an untenable outcome, while turning the page on a hypertalented core that hasn’t met expectations in the playoffs.

Marner hasn’t built the same universal good will that Guerrero has with the Blue Jays. There are factions of the fan base that point to a series of disappointing playoff outputs and believe Marner isn’t worth a long-term extension. Perhaps they would be satisfied if the Maple Leafs swung a trade like the Colorado Avalanche did with Mikko Rantanen ahead of the deadline. There are other factions don’t want Marner to return under any circumstances, which is frankly insane, given his output, his willingness to remain with the Maple Leafs and that he’s entering the prime of his career as a two-way force, with 710 points in 630 games.

Sign Marner to a long-term extension, especially with the salary cap rising, or recoup some assets in the form of a blockbuster trade (for what it’s worth, we’d much prefer an extension!) but allowing him to leave the only franchise he’s ever dreamed of playing for would be the worst possible outcome for both parties. And while Atkins and Shapiro still have the duration of the season to sign Guerrero Jr., no one reasonably believes they’ll go over their own internal valuation to keep Guerrero away from the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, or other suitors with World Series aspirations.

It’s an inexact comparison, but the Maple Leafs don’t want to be a position that their neighbours are in this week. True talent should never be taken for granted.