Blue Jays only have one real chance to land Juan Soto, and the window is closing

The Toronto Blue Jays are one of at least four teams in the mix for free-agent outfielder Juan Soto. Soto is the prize of the free-agent market this winter, and rightly so. Soto finished top-5 in AL MVP voting this season despite playing on the same team as Aaron Judge.

The bad news for Toronto is that two of the other three known teams in the Soto market – the Yankees and Red Sox – play in their division. The New York Mets are considered by many pundits to be the favorites, though how much do we really know at this point?

Soto had a 7.9 WAR last season and hit 41 home runs to boot. He had an OPS just below 1.000, and has one of the best batters' eyes in the sport. The 26-year-old is worth every penny he eventually gets, and that number is expected to reach as high as $700 million. Heck, I wouldn't put it past Soto to exceed Shohei Ohtani's value from just last winter, thought by most to be an unreachable summit.

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Blue Jays only have one real chance to land Juan Soto

The Blue Jays are involved for Soto, but they are unlikely to land him. Just a few days ago, Bob Nightengale deemed the Jays a sleeper pick for Soto, but admitted Ross Atkins front office is a long shot to convince him to sign north of the border.

"The Blue Jays could be the sleeper, but with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Bo Bichette eligible for free agency in a year, Toronto would have to dramatically beat the Mets' offer to have a prayer," Nightengale wrote.

It doesn't help that the Blue Jays have bigger fish to fry this winter, including extending Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and perhaps Bo Bichette. Toronto's rotation could use some work as well, and they already missed out on Blake Snell to the Los Angeles Dodgers. The longer the Blue Jays wait – and they'll have to keep waiting until at least the end of the winter meetings – the less their chances are of signing Soto. And, thanks to Mets owner Steve Cohen, they will almost assuredly be outspent.

The Blue Jays have a lot of work to do, and Soto should not be high on their list.