4 moves the Blue Jays should make with Shohei Ohtani’s money

The Toronto Blue Jays were briefly thought to be Shohei Ohtani's next team before concrete reporting broke the spell. A day after fans were tracking a random flight out of Santa Ana, Ohtani was signing a historic 10-year, $700 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Blue Jays were willing to hand Ohtani a "comparable" deal, but the 29-year-old ultimately decided he could win the most baseball games in LA. That's probably the right choice from a competitive standpoint.

That left the Blue Jays holding the bag. With changes to the Canadian TV landscape on the horizon, Rogers Communications — the media corporation that owns the Blue Jays — is eager to build Toronto into a baseball powerhouse. There are still free agents worth spending money on.

Here are a few moves Mark Shapiro and the front office can make to dull the sting of losing out on the biggest free agent in recent MLB history. We are going to use $700 million as a loose benchmark for what Toronto can spend on these impact signings.

4. Blue Jays can lock up DH spot with $30 million contract for J.D. Martinez

Jim Bowden of The Athletic pegs the J.D. Martinez price point at two years, $30 million. The Dodgers' DH will be looking for a new home in the aftermath of the Shohei Ohtani signing and, lo and behold, the Blue Jays are rumored to have interest in the right-handed slugger.

Martinez slashed .271/.321/.572 with 33 home runs and 103 RBIs in 472 ABs last season. He earned his sixth career All-Star berth, anchoring the Dodgers' lineup behind Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman. The Blue Jays could use another source of pop, especially with Vladdy Guerrero's recent downturn.

The 36-year-old finished in the 98th percentile for exit velocity (93.4 MPH), hard-hit percentage (55.1), and barrel percentage (17.1) last season. He is one of the best hitters in baseball. If it weren't for his age and lack of defensive value — he is exclusively a DH these days — Martinez would be due for a much larger contract.

Toronto can afford to burn cash on Martinez's bat, which would address a serious need while complementing the up-and-coming star power of Guerrero, Bo Bichette, and others in Toronto's lineup.