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2024 Record: 74-88, 5th in AL East
Signing Odds: +2000
Why It’s a Fit
Honestly, we all should have expected the Blue Jays to become a player in the Soto sweepstakes.
The Jays tried to trade for him last winter, though that was notably after the club made a run at Ohtani that seemed close to succeeding before ultimately falling short.
An interesting note from Heyman is that it may have been Toronto that originally devised the contract structure the Dodgers got Ohtani to agree to. A similar approach won’t necessarily fly with Soto, but that may not be a literal deal-breaker.
The Blue Jays can add about $30 million in average value before touching the first luxury-tax threshold for 2025. Then their books get really clean, really fast. After 2026, only José BerrÃos and Yariel RodrÃguez will still have guaranteed salaries.
It may be feasible, then, for the Blue Jays to sign Soto and extend Vladimir Guerrero Jr. If so, they’d have an offensive duo that could dominate the AL East for a generation.
Why It Won’t Happen
The notion Toronto can sign Soto without deferring any portion of his contract seems…far-fetched, at best.
Further, the financial picture here is messy. The federal income tax for high earners in Canada is 33 percent, and Ontario has a top tax rate of 13.16 percent. And right now, $1 Canadian is the equivalent of $0.72 American.