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Toronto Blue Jays Expected to Pursue Top Free Agent Option Juan Soto

For the second consecutive season, the Toronto Blue Jays are expected to make a run at the offseason's top prize.

Brady Farkas

New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) runs in at the end of the top of the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on Sept 11.
New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) runs in at the end of the top of the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Yankee Stadium on Sept 11. / Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images
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After missing out on Shohei Ohtani last offseason, the Toronto Blue Jays are once again expected to pursue the top option on the free agent market.

According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Blue Jays will make a run at Juan Soto. He wrote that on Sunday morning:

There are five teams expected to make bids for free-agent outfielder Juan Soto in free agency this winter, baseball executives believe: the New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, San Francisco Giants and Philadelphia Phillies.

The Blue Jays inclusion on this list is not surprising. After coming oh-so-close to getting Ohtani last offseason, they clearly have the money and willingness to make something big happen. Furthermore, the Blue Jays have been built to win over the last five years, but haven't even won a playoff game in that time. They need something extra to get them over the hump, and Soto is certainly something extra.

It will be interesting to see how the Blue Jays handle the financial side of things though. They are facing huge decisions on both Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette and bringing in Soto would complicate things further. Can they afford to extend all three? Would signing Soto cause them to need to trade Guerrero Jr. or Bichette? Can they bring back two of three?

Those are all questions that will need to be answered soon, but what is not a question is how good Soto is. Likely to finish in the top three of the MVP voting this year, Soto is hitting .285 this season with 39 homers and 101 RBI for the New York Yankees.

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Brady Farkas

BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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