The Toronto Blue Jays met with – and made an offer to – superstar free agent Juan Soto. That said, they seem to be on the outside looking in in terms of being able to land him this offseason.

By Ben Nicholson-Smith from Sports Network:

Their interest is real and they made an offer in the initial blind auction, but sources describe them as a dark horse at best. Industry-wide, the Mets are considered the favorites and the Yankees a legitimate option to win the contest about to unfold.

After failing in the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes last offseason, the Blue Jays seem destined to fail again. That is, unless they pay too much to woo Soto north of the border. If they fail to land Soto, they could turn their attention to Anthony Santander and Alex Bregman, both of whom would also be of interest.

The Blue Jays are coming off a season in which they finished last in the American League East with a 74-88 record. The offense struggled, as Bo Bichette was injured for half the year and only hit .225 when he played. Additionally, George Springer and Daulton Varsho haven’t really gotten going.

If the Jays can land a major piece to pair with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., it would go a long way toward making them competitive in a very talented division.

There have been reports that Soto could sign by the end of the winter meetings, so the Jays they probably won’t have to wait long to see if they need to change their off-season plans.

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