Report: The Blue Jays offered just under $700 million for Juan Soto

We all know that the Toronto Blue Jays were in on Juan Soto.

The question is, how much did they offer? Some reports have them at around $760 million, like this New York Post article from Jon Heyman. However, Sportsnet, which is owned by Rogers (the same company that owns the Blue Jays), saw an article written by Shi Davidi that noted the Blue Jays only offered just under $700 million.

“Sources with knowledge of the bidding described them as making the shortlist of finalists with an offer that was under $700 million for the superstar outfielder”

The kicker? It wasn’t ownership that stopped them from going higher, as they stopped at $700 million due to the valuation of the front office.

“But that [Blue Jays offered $760 million] speculation seems to have been overblown and while the Blue Jays are believed to have had the authorization of ownership to go further for Soto, it appears that the front office held steady to their valuations as the final-day push by both the Mets and Yankees eliminated the other contenders.”

So yeah, that isn’t an encouraging sign. Juan Soto would instantly not only make the Blue Jays a postseason team but also a World Series contender. Look at the 2023 New York Yankees, who didn’t have Soto, compared to the 2024 Yankees, who did have Soto. They went from a non-playoff team (albeit with an 82-80 record) to the American League pennant-winning team, falling short to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.

Of course, the Blue Jays, who had a 74-88 record, would have to do a lot more than add Soto, such as extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and fix their bullpen, but adding Soto would’ve done wonders for this team.

From the sounds of it, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins isn’t going to go nearly as high as $700 million for any other player this off-season, which is fair. However, the question becomes does that money get spread around for a handful of helpful free agents, or is there another budget for non-Soto acquisitions?