DALLAS – Another huge Toronto Blue Jays swing at a franchise-altering free agent failed to connect Sunday when Juan Soto decided on the New York Mets.
The superstar slugger, a generational offensive talent who combines power, plate discipline and hitting acumen, reached agreement on a $765-million, 15-year contract, spurning the impact-seeking Blue Jays and other suitors. Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report the deal.
Heyman added that the New York Yankees bid $760 million over 16 years for Soto.
Soto’s contract eclipses the remarkable $700-million, 10-year contract Shohei Ohtani signed last year with the Los Angeles Dodgers, who like the Mets also fended off an aggressive Blue Jays run.
Ohtani’s unique contract, which included a stunning $680 million in deferrals, was a target for Soto and the difference in processes – the two-way Japanese superstar proposed the terms to interested clubs, while the Dominican outfielder held at least three rounds of goal-post moving bidding – produced a contract that is a new standard for the industry.
There will be immediate fallout from that for the Blue Jays in trying to extend their two stars – Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette – who are each a year away from free agency.
A deal for Bichette isn’t likely after struggle and injuries derailed his 2024, but the window is ripe for a contract with Guerrero, with whom the club has held past extension talks and has said multiple times in the past how he’d like to be in Toronto long-term.
If Soto’s number is $765 million for 15 years, where does Guerrero slot in?
And after seeing Soto rewarded so handsomely for betting on himself – in 2022 he turned down a $440-million extension from the Nationals and then made another $54 million in arbitration before landing a contract worth 74 per cent more than the one he rejected – how much will it cost the Blue Jays to buy Guerrero out of the open market?
That the Blue Jays were in deep on both Ohtani and Soto – there are suggestions their offer went well beyond $700 million, too, although likely with some deferrals — demonstrates that the franchise has the financial wherewithal to compete for the very best free agents, although there’s work to be done on closing such deals.
In some cases, there are circumstances beyond a team’s control – Ohtani, for instance, had his life and business interests based in Los Angeles and the clubs bidding for him were essentially playing for second in case the Dodgers stumbled, and they didn’t.
But with players like Soto, who was believed to have preferred New York but could, potentially, have been swayed by the right combination of money and situation, the Blue Jays need to have all their pieces aligned to win such a competition.
And while the money was there, of the other four teams known to be involved, the Yankees, Mets, Red Sox and Dodgers, the Blue Jays are in the worst shape in terms of big-league talent and third-party farm system rankings.
Addressing the farm system will take time, but they can work on the big-league gap this winter.
One industry source expects the Blue Jays to pivot Max Fried and Anthony Santander while two weeks ago they met with Corbin Burnes, another free agent represented by agent Scott Boras, who is sure to redirect the spurned Soto suitors to his other cache of clients.
The Blue Jays need help across a roster that finished 74-88 last season and with the core’s competitive window nearing closure with Guerrero, Bichette and Chris Bassitt eligible for free agency after the 2025 season, and Kevin Gausman, George Springer, Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk set to join them following 2026.
A boost to the farm system came during last summer’s trade deadline selloff, but the next franchise cornerstone doesn’t appear to be in the organization yet.
That would have been Soto, had he signed, in what might have been the most significant, landscape-shifting transaction made by a Canadian sports franchise since the Edmonton Oilers traded Wayne Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings on Aug. 9, 1988.
Instead, the questions and search for a direction continue for the Blue Jays.
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