MLB Rumors: Jays' tough Soto choice, next Mets pitching target, Boston's 'full-throttle' dream

The champagne has dried and the confetti has been swept away from the Los Angeles Dodgers' World Series celebration. The early offseason clerical work — contract options, opt-ins, opt-outs, qualifying offers — have all been settled. The main event is finally here: It's Hot Stove season, baby, and it's shaping up to be a historic winter.

All eyes will be on Juan Soto, who might be about to make a run at Shohei Ohtani's historic $700 million megadeal from last offseason. But even beyond Soto, big names abound: Players like Corbin Burnes, Max Fried and Teoscar Hernandez have hit free agency, while others like Luis Robert Jr., Garrett Crochet, Sonny Gray and more could be made available via trade. The landscape of the league figures to look a whole lot different by the time next spring rolls around.

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MLB Rumors: Blue Jays could have to choose between Juan Soto, Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

The Toronto Blue Jays remain committed to pursuing Soto in free agency, so committed in fact that at least one recent report suggests that the team is likely to be the high bidder — beyond even what the New York Mets and New York Yankees are willing to offer. Toronto knows that it needs to turn things around after a last-place finish, and it's willing to break the bank to do just that.

But such a splurge could come at a cost. In his column in The Athletic, Ken Rosenthal suggests that if the Jays do manage to sign Soto, it could be a case of solving one problem only to create another. Landing Soto would be a massive coup, but is it worth the hassle if it comes at the expense of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.?

"Signing Soto, on the other hand, almost certainly would ensure Guerrero’s departure after next season," Rosenthal writes, "unless the Jays are willing to carry two monster contracts."

The Jays ran the league's 10th-highest payroll last year, at around $235 million. They're currently at around $125 million right now. If you budget, say, $55 million to Soto, suddenly you've only got around $60 million to play with. If we assume that Guerrero Jr. will want to command $30-35 million more in a possible extension, suddenly there isn't a ton of room left for Ross Atkins to solve second or third base or rebuild Toronto's bullpen. And that's not to mention star shortstop Bo Bichette, who also happens to be entering his contract year.

MLB Rumors: Mets eye Walker Buehler after Frankie Montas signing

The New York Mets got their offseason started late Sunday night, reaching an agreement with righty Frankie Montas on a two-year, $34 million deal. But with Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and Jose Quintana all hitting free agency this winter, New York knows it will need to add multiple starters to keep pace with the Los Angeles Dodgers. And what better way to do that than to swipe one from right under L.A.'s nose?

According to the New York Post's Joel Sherman, the Mets' next pitching target is another right-hander who brings a ton of upside and limited cost: Walker Buehler. After revitalizing Severino and Manaea last year, New York seems to like targeting buy-low bounce-back options as a means of addressing starting pitching, and Buehler would certainly fit the bill there after a sensational postseason run in which he started to look more and more like his former All-Star self.

MLB Rumors: Could Red Sox follow Juan Soto with Corbin Burnes or Max Fried?

Momentum seems to be building toward the Boston Red Sox having a legitimate chance at signing Soto. But what if chief baseball officer Craig Breslow doesn't want to stop there? After all, Soto wouldn't even fill the team's biggest need; that would be in the rotation, where Boston has a group of interesting young arms but very much needs a top-of-the-order option to stabilize things a bit.

With Soto expected to command a contract near or even greater than $700 million, most assumed that the Red Sox would have to pivot off the top of the starting pitcher market if the Soto dream became a reality. Maybe a trade for Chicago White Sox lefty Garrett Crochet, or a more mid-tier option like Nathan Eovaldi. But Rosenthal says that that might not necessarily be the case: What if Boston decided to hold on to its much-heralded Big Four prospects, and simply found some more money to sign Burnes or Fried instead?

Rosenthal does classify such a scenario as "probably unrealistic," but it's not as though John Henry doesn't have the money to pull it off if he's sufficiently motivated. If the Red Sox are indeed "full throttle," this would be the ideal way to prove it.