Blue Jays ranked as fifth-most likely landing spot for Juan Soto in free agency: “They tried in trade and owe fans”
Photo credit: © Darren Yamashita - USA Today
Much like two winters ago, a New York Yankees superstar will be the main character of free agency.
Aaron Judge turned down more money elsewhere to sign a nine-year, $360 million contract to stay with the team that drafted him. Next it’ll be Juan Soto’s turn to test the open market.
Soto broke into the Major Leagues with the Washington Nationals as a 19-year-old in 2018 and finished second in Rookie of the Year voting. He helped the Nats win their first-ever World Series the following season in 2019 and led the National League in batting average, on-base percentage, and slugging percentage in the shortened 2020 season.
The Nationals fell off a cliff after their World Series win and Soto wound up getting traded to the San Diego Padres during the 2022 season. Soto and the Padres made a run to the National League Championship Series that fall but missed the playoffs in 2023. With Soto one year from free agency and the team’s status as a contender in question, the Padres traded him to the Yankees ahead of the 2024 season.
Now 25 years old, Soto has four All-Star appearances, four Silver Slugger Awards, and a World Series Championship to his name. He’s played in 897 games over seven seasons and has slashed a .287/.438/.537 line with 194 home runs and 83 more walks than strikeouts for his career.
It isn’t very often that a player this good reaches free agency at such a young age. Judge signed his aforementioned $360 million contract following his age-30 season, so Soto should be able to command more than his teammate did. The question is whether his next contract will be with the Yankees or somebody else.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post ranked the most likely landing spots for Juan Soto in free agency and the Toronto Blue Jays made the list at fifth.
1. Yankees: Soto seems to love it all, including the roll call. The comfort, tradition, location, endorsement potential and lineup mate Aaron Judge are even bigger pluses. They’ve signed two record deals, though Judge stayed for less than San Francisco or San Diego were talking. But with $200 million-plus already under contract for 2025, they will almost surely be in 110 percent tax territory again.2. Mets: Steve Cohen provides their edge, and they’ve strategized to clear payroll via expiring contracts. But they might need to significantly outbid their crosstown rival.3. Dodgers: Are there limits?4. Giants: They showed interest in a Soto trade, and they’ve been trying to land a big positional star for years. Is a pitchers’ park a dealbreaker?5. Blue Jays: They tried for Soto in trade and “owe” fans.
The most likely scenario is Soto sticking around with the Yankees. He’s had an excellent season, he’s enjoyed the spotlight of playing for the Yankees, and he forms the strongest one-two punch in baseball with Aaron Judge.
If Soto is going to leave an ideal situation with the Yankees, it would likely be because somebody offered an impossible amount of money or because he wanted to go ring-chasing. The Mets are the second-most likely landing spot on the list because they have payroll flexibility and an owner willing to spend more than anybody else. The Dodgers are third on the list because they’ve used deferred salaries to try to become a new-age superteam.
The Giants and Blue Jays rank fourth and fifth respectively for pretty much the same reasons. Both teams tried to acquire Soto last winter through trade and both teams will again be looking to make a splash following poor seasons.
For Toronto, signing Soto would be a no-brainer. They could have a left-handed complement to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. for the next decade and stealing a superstar player away from New York would go miles in rejuvenating the interest around the team that was lost this year.
Unfortunately, the fit makes much more sense for the team than the player. The Blue Jays are no longer the exciting up-and-coming team that they were a few years ago. They aren’t better positioned to win than the Yankees or Dodgers so they’d have to be ready to spend like the Mets to land Soto.
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