It’s well known that Altagracia, mother of Vladimir Guerrero Sr., cooked and cared for her son when he played in Montreal. Years later, as her grandson’s pro career took him through various cities in the Blue Jays’ farm system, she kept an eye on him every step of the way. “There’s this amazing story for a brand when the time is right,” Pathak says. “To tell this story of family; meals shared together with a father and a son and a grandmother.”

Of course, communication is a key part of any athlete’s endorsement responsibilities and for Guerrero, that will eventually need to be done in English. He’s said to have working knowledge of the language and is constantly trying to firm up his grasp on it. The progress was evident during his recent acceptance speech at MLB’s Winter Meetings in Las Vegas, where he was presented with the 2018 Baseball America Minor League Player of the Year award. However, marketers and agents don’t believe a lack of proficiency will hinder his opportunities, at least in the early going. There are several examples of foreign athletes appearing in advertisements and saying few words, with perhaps the most notable example being Cristiano Ronaldo in American Tourister commercials. There are even recent examples in baseball, Pathak points out, such as Yankees phenom Gleyber Torres — a Venezuelan with limited English — holding an endorsement partnership with Toronto-based BioSteel Sports.

Language matters less on social media, where Guerrero will also attract both fans and brands. He already has 232,000 Instagram followers, despite having never suited up in a big-league game. That figure is just behind the 247,000 that Torres boasts and ahead of the 227,000 belonging to Ronald Acuna Jr., the reigning NL Rookie of the Year and baseball’s former consensus top prospect. Companies consider the number of followers, comments and engagement that an athlete produces as key performance indicators — major predictors of marketing power — and also scour accounts for any hint of controversy. Guerrero has been clean on that front, but did commit somewhat of a gaffe during Vlad Mania last year when he posted an Instagram photo that was geotagged to JFK Airport, causing frenzied fans to believe he was joining the Blue Jays, who were in New York to play the Mets. It was quickly deleted from Guerrero’s account, and one can surmise that the incident proved an instructional experience for him about the social media clout he wields.