Toronto Blue Jays Believed to Be Serious "Dark Horse" Candidate For Juan Soto

The drumbeat around Soto and the Blue Jays is growing louder, though they still have to contend with the Yankees and Mets.

New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates in the dugout after scoring on an RBI single by designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (not pictured) in the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game two of the 2024 MLB World Series at Dodger Stadium on Oct 26. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

On Saturday, it was reported that the San Francisco Giants were going to scale back spending this offseason. That essentially means that they are out of the Juan Soto sweepstakes.

That's great news for the Toronto Blue Jays, who have been linked to Soto as well. One less team to deal with is obviously desirable, and according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Jays are seen as a serious candidate.

The following came on Friday after the conclusion of the general manager's meetings:

While there’s not a team in baseball who wouldn’t desire Soto, baseball executives believe the finalists for his services will be the Yankees, Mets, Toronto Blue Jays and San Francisco Giants. The Blue Jays appear to be the popular dark-horse candidate.

The Blue Jays have the means to afford Soto, even if the bidding goes up into the $600-700 million range. After all, they were one of the last teams standing in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes a season ago. Furthermore, the Jays appear to have the desire to compete in 2025. After a last-place finish in the American League East, there was some thought that the Jays could rebuild, but they appear to want to take another run with the Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette core.

If Soto were to sign in Toronto, he'd pair with those two, plus veteran George Springer to make a very solid top half of the batting order.

Soto hit .288 this season for the Yankees with 41 homers and 109 RBI. He's set to finish in the top three of American League MVP voting. He's a former batting champion and a World Series champion (2019). Soto only just turned 26.

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