Blue Jays Ready to "Overpay" One of 3 Top Free Agents NOT Named Juan Soto

The Toronto Blue Jays have been named by a baseball insider as "the team most likely to overpay" for a free agent. This should come as a surprise to no one.

The authors of nine straight disappointing finishes, covering the entire Mark Shaprio/Ross Atkins reign, they are still seen by some as a contender in the Juan Soto Sweepstakes. But as insider Bob Nightengale of USA Today puts it, considering their poor outlook for the coming season and the future, and even poorer farm system, "Toronto would have to dramatically beat the NY Mets' offer to have a prayer."

Which leaves the Blue Jays eyeing three much more realistic, relatively speaking, free agent options. Nightengale says that the Jays are targeting the following:

Anthony Santander
Blake Snell
Max Fried

And whoever they're willing to throw gobs of money at, it will be a dramatic overpay, as Nightengale expands on:

They will have no choice but to overpay free agents with players well aware that (Vladimir) Guerrero and (Bo) Bichette could be gone (after the season). This is why no one believes Soto is coming their way unless they dramatically outbid the Mets.

Both Guerrero and Bichette are entering their final year of team control, and can be unrestricted free agents after the 2025 season.

As for Santander, Nightengale says they "badly covet" the slugging outfielder, as he would add a big chunk of offense that Toronto has been looking to replace for two years since they ill-advisedly traded Teoscar Hernandez for a middle reliever after the 2022 season. Santander blasted 44 HR in 2024.

Snell and/or Fried would offer another premium pitcher for the rotation, which saw Kevin Gausman uncharacteristically struggle a bit last season, and Yusei Kikuchi traded (now signed as of Monday).

But again, as the insider says, "They will have to make easily the highest offer" to be successful on any of the three, and "The danger is avoiding being used by agents simply to drive up the price tag." Just like what happened them last winter in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes, who very few actually believe was ready to head north of the border rather than sign with the Dodgers.

It's a make-or-break year for the beleaguered management team in Toronto. Let's see if team ownership allows them to spend their way out of the doghouse.