Will the Toronto Blue Jays be backing up the Brink’s truck for New York Yankees All-Star Juan Soto a year after missing out on Shohei Ohtani?
The Blue Jays and their fans thought they had landed the two-way superstar last December after MLB Network’s Jon Morosi infamously tweeted that Ohtani was flying to Toronto, causing a social media firestorm. Sleuths began tracking jets flying from Southern California to “The 6,” hoping to spot the plane Ohtani might be on.
Sources: Shohei Ohtani is en route to Toronto today.
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) December 8, 2023
A representative of his agency, CAA, would not comment when asked about Ohtani’s travel plans.
At this hour, Ohtani does not have a signed agreement with any @MLB team. @MLBNetwork
However, it all turned out to be false, as Ohtani was at his California home. The jet people were tracking turned out to belong to Robert Herjavec, a billionaire and investor on the hit show “Shark Tank.”
After the Ohtani-to-Blue Jays commotion subsided, the two-time AL MVP soon signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers — the largest deal in professional sports history.
Related: MLB source reveals where New York Yankees’ stiffest Juan Soto contract competition could come from
How much will Toronto Blue Jays reportedly offer Juan Soto?
Maybe still stinging from losing out on Ohtani, the Blue Jays are allegedly ready to throw money at another generational talent — Juan Soto.
NJ.com reports Toronto will be giving Soto an “astronomical offer” — possibly in the 15-year, $600 million range — once the offseason commences. One of Soto’s former teammates, who shares the same agent in Scott Boras, told the outlet that the Blue Jays will be making a strong play for the superstar.
NJ.com even asked Soto about the report following the Yankees’ Game 3 ALDS win over the Kansas City Royals.
“I don’t know anything about that,” Soto told NJ.com. “They can’t talk to me now. Let’s see what happens in the offseason.”
The Athletic’s Tim Britton projects Soto will land a contract in the vicinity of 14 years, $560 million.
Soto might have been an AL MVP favorite if not for his teammate Aaron Judge. Soto finished the regular season with a 7.8 WAR (wins above replacement), a .989 OPS, 178 OPS+, with 41 home runs, 109 RBI, and 128 runs scored.
Soto hit .286 with a .746 OPS in the Yankees’ ALDS victory over the Royals. The Yanks will face the winner of the Detroit Tigers/Cleveland Guardians series in the ALCS, which begins Monday in New York.