The Argument for the Blue Jays to Sign Juan Soto
It is pretty hard not to love Juan Soto. Just ask his most recent former team, the New York Yankees what he meant to their line-up last year, taking a middling, under-performing squad in 2023 to World Series runner-up in 2024 on the strength his .288 batting average, 41 homeruns and 109 RBI.
If you don't want to ask the «Evil Empire», you can ask a myriad of teams looking to shell out north of $600M this offseason to add this superstar as he heads into the prime of his career.
Most recently it is the Kansas City Royals who have added their name to the list of interested suitors which includes the powerhouse (and already stacked) L.A. Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, Philadelphia Phillies, New York Mets and of course, the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Jays, who had interest in acquiring Soto last off-season but failed to close the deal as they were deeply entrenched in attempted negotiations to add now 3-time MVP Shohei Ohtani, are admittedly ready to shove their chips into the centre of the table in this high-stakes poker game.
So much so, that most media outlets would have you believe that they are likely sitting at #2 on the preferred destination list as of yesterday, even when the Mets (now the odds-on favourites) have stated that they are willing to ante in $50M more than every other bid.
It almost sounds like a binge-worthy Netflix series like Breaking Bad, «Signing Soto» is filled with just as many twists and turns, heroes, villains and adrenaline pumping stand-offs to keep its audience on the edge of their seat.
But really, what does he add to a Jays line-up that has a laundry list of needs to fill outside of a corner outfielder who is going to cost over a half-billion dollars.
And if he were to somehow choose to sign here, what would it mean for the rest of the line-up construction? Yes, it likely makes it much easier to sign his compadre Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who would look awfully good hitting back-to-back with Soto for the next decade, especially if the salary was structured to still allowed room to fill the rest of the roster with even league-average talent.
The Jays could potentially be a perennial playoff team for the foreseeable future. And ultimately, isn't that what every Blue Jay fan hopes for?
| POLL | ||
NOVEMBRE 22 | 92 ANSWERS The Argument for the Blue Jays to Sign Juan Soto Should the Jays spend $600M+ to sign Juan Soto? | ||
| Yes | 37 | 40.2 % |
| No | 55 | 59.8 % |
| List of polls | ||
