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Toronto Blue Jays' Rival Reportedly Takes Big Step in Juan Soto Negotiations

As the Blue Jays look to secure Juan Soto this offseason, the rival Boston Red Sox have apparently upped their offer.

Brady Farkas

New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates after hitting three run home run during the tenth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field on Oct 19.
New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) celebrates after hitting three run home run during the tenth inning against the Cleveland Guardians during game five of the ALCS for the 2024 MLB playoffs at Progressive Field on Oct 19. / David Richard-Imagn Images
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On Monday night, we heard that the Toronto Blue Jays were one of five teams to make an official contract offer to Juan Soto.

On Tuesday morning, we've heard that the Jays rivals, the Boston Red Sox, have already upped their initial offer.

Hector Gomez had that information on social media:

SOURCE: The #RedSox increased their original offer to Juan Soto, both in years and total value.

@z101digital

Now, we don't know where the offers stand right now, but it's clear that a psedu-bidding war is emerging. For the Blue Jays, it remains to be seen how far they'll go to land Soto, who is one of the pre-eminent sluggers in all of baseball. At just the age of 26, he's a unicorn. He's a World Series champion, a batting champion, a Home Run Derby champion and a perennial threat for 40 homers/100 RBI, a feat he hit this past season with the New York Yankees.

He'd pair with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette to make one of the best lineup trios in the American League, and would be a safety net moving forward if one or both of them were to leave in free agency.

Soto going to Boston would be among the worst-case scenarios for Toronto. He'd be in the division, likely pairing with Jarren Duran and Ceddanne Rafaela to make an exciting outfield. Furthermore, the team would have the freedom to trade top prospect Roman Anthony, which would allow them to go out and acquire more impact, which will make life even tougher for Toronto.

We'll update this story as more information becomes available.

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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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