MLB Network insider tabs Blue Jays as top-five favourite for Juan Soto
The Toronto Blue Jays might not be having the best 2024 season, but they’re still expecting to be major players in the free agent market this offseason.
At least, according to one major MLB insider.
According to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman, Toronto is expected to be one of the teams in the mix for New York Yankees star Juan Soto this winter, should he reach free agency.
Juan Soto’s Top 5 landing spots next season, according to @jonheyman ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/7JxydTIExV
— MLB Network (@MLBNetwork) August 16, 2024
“The Jays are number five for me,” Heyman said today when asked about the top five landing spots for Soto.
“I mean, I’m leaning heavily on the teams that were willing to spend for [Shohei] Ohtani, and the Jays are certainly willing to spend. They want to win. They have the wherewithal to do it. So for me, even though they are [fifth on this list], they’re still 25-to-1 odds. I gave odds, and I still have them at 25 to one. They did try for Soto in trade [in 2023]. They were one of those teams that did that as well. So we know they like him. They love the offence… and all that. So Jays are number five.”
Heyman closed out the top five with the San Francisco Giants, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Mets, and sticking with the Yankees as the least-to-most likely options for Soto.
Soto has a batting average of .307 with 134 hits, 34 home runs, 87 RBIs and 103 runs scored in 118 games this season with New York, his first season with the team.
Soto began his career with the Washington Nationals before joining the San Diego Padres in a 2022 trade. After a season-and-a-half in California, Soto was then sent to New York ahead of the final year of his contract, with the Blue Jays having been rumoured as interested in Soto on both occasions.
Already a four-time Silver Slugger winner in seven seasons in the MLB, the 25-year-old is expected to land one of the biggest contracts in baseball history this offseason.
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