Shocking Team Is "Biggest Threat" To Steal Juan Soto From Yankees & Mets

Per MLB insider Jon Heyman, the Juan Soto Sweepstakes has been whittled down to an Elite Eight, if you will, eight finalists as he calls them.

But while the incumbent New York Yankees and the deep-pocketed crosstown NY Mets are the top two contenders to pay Soto an insane amount of money for the next dozen+ years, Heyman calls the Toronto Blue Jays "the biggest threat" to steal Soto from the Big Apple.

The Jays are viewed by industry sources as a viable obstacle to the favored Yankees and Mets, thanks to a well-heeled ownership and strong incentive to improve coming off the abject disappointment of 2024. They’ve had difficulty luring superstars, presumably due to geography and finances (high taxes and the Canadian dollar complicate things). But word is they are highly motivated and sources suggest they plan to be in big.

With the woeful record of the current Blue Jays front office—9 straight years of failing to build a winner for president Mark Shapiro and the much-reviled (by Jays fans) GM Ross Atkins—it would be a shock to see Soto go north of the border.

But there's one thing we must keep in mind here: Scott Boras is his agent, which means he will almost certainly go to the highest bidder. If the Jays were willing to spend $700 million last summer as a finalist on free agent Shohei Ohtani, it seems possible they'll come up with a similar type of offer this winter.

And if Toronto's offer is even a dollar more than the Yankees' and Mets', don't be surprised to see Soto wearing a red maple leaf on a blue & white uniform next season.

On the other hand, Blue Jays fans have had their hearts broken in a scenario like this before, and it also would not be surprising to see that happen again. It's quite possible (quite likely) that stories planted like this will be used to drive up the price for one of Soto's preferred destinations in New York.

Meetings with Soto in Southern California are said to be taking place his coming week with all teams, which, in addition to the NY clubs and Toronto, would include, per Heyman, "The (Los Angeles) Dodgers, (San Francisco) Giants and (Boston) Red Sox and two other “mystery” teams (one believed to be from a smaller market).