This offseason has been a wild one for the Blue Jays, with the team struggling to lure in their top targets in Juan Soto, Corbin Burnes and Roki Sasaki.

The fallout of the failed Sasaki pursuit is that they now have an additional $2 million in international bonus pool money to spend, acquired in Saturday’s trade alongside Myles Straw. This gives the Blue Jays the most bonus pool money out of any team, although spending it will be more difficult since many of the top players have already been signed.

The club made their first couple of moves official Monday, signing Dominican infielder Christopher Polanco for $2.3 million, along with Cuban right-hander Alexander Valiente for $75K. Other names continue to trickle in throughout the day. Polanco ranks 22nd on MLB.com’s list of international prospects, while Baseball America has him at 11th. His hit tool is his calling card, having the potential to be a high-contact bat over time. He is smooth defensively, but a less-than-ideal throwing arm likely means the 17-year-old will move from shortstop to second base in the pros.

Ross Atkins has been the Blue Jays GM since December 2015, making 2025 his ninth international free agent class. He had no hand in signing Vladimir Guerrero Jr, who signed in June of 2015 before Atkins took the job.

The Jays have typically focused most of the team’s international pool money on one key player under Atkins, a trait shared amongst many of the clubs across the league. The 2018/2019 offseason was the only one in which they signed two players worth $1 million (Orelvis Martinez and Yosver Zulueta). The extra couple million this offseason allows them to have one of their better hauls in recent years, even if many of the top names have been snatched up by other teams by now. Some players might be found in the summer while the Jays could also keep a few million kicking around following next season, potentially luring a player from overseas under the posting system to declare early before the 2026 posting period.

Let’s see how Polanco’s signing bonus stacks up with the biggest international commitments to amateur players that the Blue Jays have made in the Atkins era.

Polanco is in good company among the club’s highest-paid international players since 2017. Every other prospect featured on MLB Pipeline’s top 50 prospect list had already been signed, leaving Polanco and his connection to the Jays the last remaining domino to fall. It’s worth noting that international bonus pool money does not carry over into next year, so the club will likely be looking at bringing in several of the best prospects who are still unsigned and hoping they can find a couple of gems.

After the Polanco signing, the Blue Jays have just under $6 million in international bonus pool money left to spend. Without many big names left unsigned, that money will likely be spread among several players worth around $1 million or less. The sting of losing out on Sasaki is still fresh, but if the club can hit on another couple of players as they did with Jimenez, Moreno, or Kirk their farm system could be in good shape over the next few years.