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Blue Jays Make Their First Official Pitch to Free Agent Juan Soto

Toronto is looking for a star.

Josh Wilson

Juan Soto runs in the outfield at Rogers Centre in Toronto
Juan Soto runs in the outfield at Rogers Centre in Toronto / Nick Turchiaro-Imagn Images
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The Toronto Blue Jays felt oh so close to signing Shohei Ohtani as a free agent last offseason. Now, they appear ready to jump right back in the star-hunting pool with Juan Soto, the marquee free agent of this year's class.

Soto has officially met with the Blue Jays, whose presentation to Soto was described as "impressive" by Jon Heyman of the New York Post:

Similar phrasing was used to describe the Boston Red Sox's first pitch to Soto. It was also reported Soto asked the Sox about three things: Winning commitment, talent evaluation systems, and facilities.

ESPN's Jeff Passan recently was adamant the Blue Jays are going to acquire a big name this offseason. While he was hesitant to indicate the Jays have a strong chance to get Soto, he said, "it certainly could [be Toronto that lands Soto]. Do not discount them. This is not something they're just doing to just get their fan base excited. Because you know if they don't get Soto, it's just going to be like another dagger after last winter."

Soto made the American League first team for his play in 2024. He was an integral offseason addition that got the New York Yankees over the hump to appear in their first World Series in 15 years.

There will likely be plenty more teams that make presentations to Soto before he accepts offer terms and weighs his final decision.

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Josh Wilson
JOSH WILSON

Josh Wilson is the news director of the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Before joining SI in 2024, he worked for FanSided in a variety of roles, most recently as senior managing editor of the brand’s flagship site. He has also served as a general manager of Sportscasting, the sports arm of a start-up sports media company, where he oversaw the site’s editorial and business strategy. Wilson has a bachelor’s degree in mass communications from SUNY Cortland and a master’s in accountancy from the Gies College of Business at the University of Illinois. He loves a good nonfiction book and enjoys learning and practicing Polish. Wilson lives in Chicago but was raised in upstate New York. He spent most of his life in the Northeast and briefly lived in Poland, where he ate an unhealthy amount of pastries for six months.

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