DALLAS — Once again, the Toronto Blue Jays decided to shoot their shot, going after baseball’s top free agent this winter. The Blue Jays were among the final bidders for Juan Soto before the superstar agreed to a historic 15-year, $765 million deal with the New York Mets.
Missing out is familiar territory for the Blue Jays, who were in a similar position a year ago when they aggressively pursued Shohei Ohtani only for him to ultimately sign a 10-year, $700 million pact with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
New York was long believed to be the preferred landing spot for Soto, although he surprised some by borough-hopping from the Bronx to Queens.
Soto coming north always felt like a long shot, however. But on Monday at the Winter Meetings in Dallas, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said the club felt “great” about their chances of landing Soto, up until they were informed by his agent Scott Boras that they were out of it.
“The positives were the genuine preparation on the part of Juan Soto, as it related to the Toronto Blue Jays. The questions that they had about the organization, city, country, plans, the commitment from Edward Rogers and Rogers Corporation, that all aligning,” Atkins said on Monday from the team’s hotel suite at the Hilton Anatole hotel. “As things progressed, we felt as though we were a great landing spot for Juan Soto and grateful to be in that process.”
The process now played out, the Blue Jays face a similar scenario of having to regroup after an unsuccessful high-stakes free-agent pursuit. And there is pressure on the club to execute a better pivot than the one they did last season, when they tried to fill the Ohtani-shaped hole with complementary adds like Isiah Kiner-Falefa, Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier. The club, of course, went on to win 74 games, miss the playoffs and finish last in the American League East. (And trade all three of those players they signed.)
“We’re not shifting our plan. We’ve had a plan from the start of the offseason, and Juan Soto could have been a part of it, and now we’ll continue to look to improve our team,” Atkins said. “We’ve been working tirelessly on every front to do so. So from the start of the offseason, we talked about adding to our pitching, adding to our offence and rebuilding our bullpen. That remains our goal.”
Though Soto is now off the board, along with some other major free agents, there are still plenty of impactful players available.
On the starting pitching front, Corbin Burnes and Max Fried are still on the market. Top position players such as Teoscar Hernández, Alex Bregman, Pete Alonso and Anthony Santander remain unsigned. Top relievers such as Jeff Hoffman, Tanner Scott and Carlos Estévez are also still looking for teams.
One avenue to upgrade the Jays roster would be to add free agent Corbin Burnes. (Tommy Gilligan / Imagn Images)
(As an aside, one reliever who is not available is Jordan Romano, who signed a year-one deal with the Philadelphia Phillies for $8.5 million on Monday. The Blue Jays had been interested in bringing back the former closer after they non-tendered him last month, but it seems as though they were hoping to do so for less than the $7.75 million he was expected to make in arbitration. “A very, very difficult decision, but we’re running a business, and every dollar matters, so we made a tough one,” Atkins said.)
None of the above players are in the same category as Soto, but they remain players who can help a team seriously compete and are among the top 40 free agents on The Athletic’s Big Board.
Atkins was asked about the perception that the club didn’t do enough to prop up their roster last offseason, resulting in the disappointing season, and if the club has learned anything for this winter.
“I definitely don’t want to go back and defend our offseason. However, I do think we acquired good players last year. I think it was how they were put together and complemented to the group is where I need to be better,” the Toronto GM said, before adding that impact is a difficult quality to define.
“I think there’s a lot of different ways to have a high impact on this group. And as I’ve said, in not the most exciting and fulfilling or gratifying way, we have to have it from every angle. We’ve got to have it from the current group that is on our team. There needs to be an impact from our farm system. And we need to have some level of impact from free agency, and that’s when we’ve had success in the past, and we’ll have it again if those things happen.”
Bringing in top free agents or trading for a significant addition is one way to have a positive impact on the organization’s future this offseason. Another way would be locking Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long-term extension.
Why isn’t Guerrero signed beyond 2025 is the question that hangs over the organization, especially after his 2024 season performance vaulted him back into the superstar hitter stratosphere.
The Blue Jays kept Guerrero in the loop on the Soto negotiation, Atkins said, although the GM said the club didn’t ask their first baseman “to go to an unnatural extent or have him be a part of a presentation” as part of their pursuit but “because of (Soto and Guerrero’s) relationship, there was influence.”
With Soto ultimately costing more than $700 million, it raises the question of what Guerrero could make on the open market when he is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2025 season. Atkins was asked if he believed Soto’s contract would impact how teams value Guerrero.
“We have to stay disciplined to how we view things and we are committed to always being fair and being consistent, and nothing has changed. And in terms of our pursuit of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., we are very hopeful to extend him,” Atkins said.
The GM also added that if the club committed the reported $700-plus million to Soto, there was still a pathway to sign Guerrero long-term, too.
The Guerrero-Soto road is closed, but the path to keep Guerrero in Toronto remains open. Guerrero is not on the same level as Soto — few players are — but he is nonetheless a player a team can build around. The Blue Jays have missed out on two major free agents — but it would somehow be even more painful if they were to miss out on keeping a homegrown talent, especially one as special as Guerrero.
But from Guerrero’s perspective, perhaps he needs to see who else the Blue Jays add this winter before he agrees to stay in Toronto long-term.
“He’s excited about any way we’re going to make the team better,” Atkins said. “Understood the pursuit of Juan, understood that it may not happen, and excited about other ways to make the team better.”
A lot is riding on this offseason for the Blue Jays. And after once again missing out on their top target, they have to find a way to bounce back better.
(Top photo of Guerrero: Jonathan Dyer / Imagn Images)
