Blue Jays dream Opening Day lineup after free agency: Juan Soto boards flight to Toronto

The 2024 season could not have gone much worse for the Toronto Blue Jays. They just missed out on signing Shohei Ohtani, and responded to that near miss by winning just 74 games and finishing in last place in the AL East. The season went so poorly to the point where they sold at the trade deadline.

As putrid as the 2024 campaign was for Toronto, they have a very clear goal of turning things around very quickly. The Jays hope to compete in 2025. How possible that actually is will depend a lot on what kind of moves they make over the offseason.

Putting this dream lineup, yet somewhat realistic lineup together by the time Opening Day rolls around would put the Jays in a better spot to compete in 2025.

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Blue Jays Opening Day dream lineup after free agency

Blue Jays sign Juan Soto to replace Joey Loperfido in LF

The biggest move that the Blue Jays can make this offseason would be signing Juan Soto. The price tag will be hefty, but well worth the Jays' while. Soto instantly gives the Blue Jays a second superstar to plug into their lineup in front of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and having him hit behind Bo Bichette might re-ignite the All-Star shortstop coming off a down year.

Is it likely that the Jays actually do sign Soto? Of course not. For all intents and purposes, Soto wants to stay in New York. With that being said, though, money talks. The Jays, as we saw last offseason, have lots of it. They were aggressively in on Ohtani, and they should be just as aggressively in on Soto.

With Soto being just 26 years old, signing him would give the Blue Jays a superstar to build around for the next decade or longer, even if Guerrero and Bichette were to depart the following offseason.

Blue Jays sign Joc Pederson to replace Spencer Horwitz at DH

Signing Soto would be extremely costly financially, which means that given the plethora of holes that the Jays have in regards to their position players and pitching, the additional money that they'll have to spend must be spent wisely. That likely means that big-name targets like Willy Adames and Alex Bregman will be off the board if Soto comes along.

One player who can be had for a lot cheaper than the nine figures that Adames and Bregman are sure to receive is a player that Toronto should've signed last offseason - Joc Pederson. The 32-year-old Pederson shouldn't play the field and shouldn't see time against left-handed pitching, but as a DH against righties, he can absolutely mash. We saw that last season in Pederson's year with the Arizona Diamondbacks.

In 132 games, Pederson slashed .275/.393/.515 with 23 home runs and 64 RBI. His 154 WRC+ against right-handed pitching ranked 12th in the majors last season, just 10 points shy of Guerrero's mark. That shows just how impressive Pederson was against right-handers. The next-best Blue Jay on that list among qualifiers was George Springer with a 101 WRC+ against right-handers - quite the drop-off.

Pederson should come fairly cheap on a one or two-year deal. With Toronto's real need for more power (26th in home runs last season), Pederson is a slam dunk. As for fans worried about Spencer Horwitz being replaced, don't worry, he's in at second base.

Blue Jays trade for Luis Rengifo to replace Ernie Clement at 3B

Ernie Clement had an underrated and solid season for the Jays, but would fit a whole lot better as a utility infielder with the ability to play three of the four infield positions.

The best third baseman available is Alex Bregman, but as mentioned above, he probably is going to be out of Toronto's price range if they sign Soto and we want to be a little bit realistic here. So, with that in mind, and the fact that the free agent market is incredibly weak at third base outside of Bregman, the Jays should look at the trade market. Trading for Luis Rengifo would make them a lot better.

Rengifo, a switch-hitter, was putting up his best numbers for the Los Angeles Angels, slashing .300/.347/.417 with six home runs and 30 RBI in 78 games before suffering a season-ending wrist injury in early August. This was a big blow for Rengifo, who had also stolen a career-high 24 bases before his season came to the abrupt ending that it did.

The 27-year-old has solid power, as evidenced by the 33 home runs he hit combined in 2022 and 2023. He has speed, as evidenced by the stolen base figures. His defense isn't anything to write home about, but he is at his best defensively at the hot corner. He's a solid well-rounded player.

The Angels probably won't rush to trade him, but this is Rengifo's final season under club control before he hits free agency. The Halos can sell him high and ensure that they receive a meaningful return for a player who could be gone this time next offseason. It probably isn't likely to go down, but it's realistic enough to dream about it.