Blue Jays notoriously absent from updated list of Alex Bregman offers in Jeff Passan indictment

The Alex Bregman sweepstakes have officially ended. The Boston Red Sox have come away with yet another prize, landing the two-time All-Star after acquiring pitchers Garrett Crochet and signing Walker Buehler earlier this offseason. For Boston, which missed out on the Wild Card by five games in 2024, it's another big step toward becoming a much more competitive team this year. For the hopefuls who missed out, however, the ramifications have become dire.

In the wake of Bregman's signing, MLB insider Jeff Passan rattled off a list of the teams disappointed in the race for the Gold Glove third baseman.

Bregman netted a three-year, $120 million deal from Boston. It comes with opt-outs in 2025 and 2026 as well as a player option for 2027, resulting in a windfall of $40 million annually (before deferrals) if he sticks with the Red Sox for the duration. As Passan noted, the Detroit Tigers had years and overall contract value on their side, while Boston had the highest contract value based on AAV and the Chicago Cubs were on the short end of either team in terms of both years and money. But while the Cubs look like the laggard of the bunch, there is one important team Passan didn’t mention.

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The Blue Jays appear to have not even made a run at Alex Bregman

After much talk of aggressively pursuing difference-makers and playing for a postseason run in an all-important 2025 season, the Toronto Blue Jays are coming away with very few offseason victories. The most notable signing has been Anthony Santander, with Max Scherzer also added to the rotation. But after rumors had swirled for so long that Toronto was intent on signing Bregman, the Blue Jays didn’t even make Passan’s list. Why?

Hours before Bregman made his decision, he notably eliminated the Jays from the race. Could this be because he didn’t want to play in Toronto, or was this a result of Ross Atkins' refusal to meet his price? Perhaps the answer to this question is far worse than we first thought. There might be a better reason than a low-ball offer as to why Jeff Passan excluded the Blue Jays.

Henry Palattella of Jays Journal isn’t surprised with the result of the Bregman sweepstakes. He had this to report shortly after the signing:

“Bregman was the last big free agent remaining on the market, and, like seemingly every big free agent this year, was connected to the Blue Jays at some point in the offseason. But, unlike Juan Soto, Roki Sasaki and Corbin Burnes, it seems as if Toronto's pursuit of Bregman tailed off the longer it went on. In speaking to reporters last week, Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins said that any acquisition would likely come 'via trade,"'which poured cold water on their pursuit of Bregman, a free agent.”

This begs the question: Did Atkins even make an offer for a very good player at a position of need? Given his remarks, it seems Atkins was never very serious about acquiring Bregman. The bigger problem now is retaining Vladimir Guerrero Jr.; and after giving up on Bregman, it seems Atkins has given him very little reason to stay with Toronto.