7:54 p.m.: There is currently no meeting scheduled between Soto and the Giants, says The Athletic’s Jason Stark.
11:10 a.m.: The list of known teams that have upcoming meetings with Juan Soto and agent Scott Boras continues to grow. ESPN’s Jeff Passan reports that both the Blue Jays and Red Sox are scheduled to meet with Soto and his representative this week. They will join the Mets and Yankees in that regard. Passan adds that the Jays are “serious about adding a star” to the lineup alongside Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Soto is unsurprisingly high on their wish list.
Likewise, Jon Heyman of the New York Post paints the Jays as a legitimate contender in Soto’s bid. Toronto was willing to make the same offer the Dodgers made to lure Shohei Ohtani to Los Angeles last winter, and Heyman adds that the Jays tried to trade Soto last winter as well before the Yankees eventually acquired him from the Padres. Both reports peg Toronto as an eager buyer in the wake of a disastrous 2024 season that saw them finish in the basement of the AL East.
From a salary standpoint, the Jays should have a clear path to making a compelling offer. Jose Berrios and Yarriel Rodriguez are the only two players the Blue Jays signed after the 2026 season — the latter of whom earned no more than $8 million per year. RosterResource projects Toronto’s 2025 payroll at around $197 million right now — a good way shy of last year’s opening day mark of $225 million. This projected number could decrease further with several non-tender/trade candidates on the roster (such as Dillon Tate, Eric Swanson, Jordan Romano, and Zach Pope). By 2026, the Blue Jays will have less than $75 million in guarantees on the books.
Toronto is, of course, hoping to extend the aforementioned Guerrero and would need a huge offer to do so, but the long-term payroll with Soto and Guerrero appears doable given the lack of other commitments. Shortstop Bo Bichette could be another extension candidate, but he represents a tough case for a long-term deal after an injury-shortened season that included the worst production of his career. At the very least, it’s easy to see how the Blue Jays could make a strong, competitive bid for Soto, as they did with Ohtani.
This generally applies to the Red Sox as well, although their short-term books aren’t exactly clean. Rafael Devers, Brian Bellew and Sedan Rafaela are the only players signed long-term in Boston, but the Red Sox will still pay notable salaries to Masataka Yoshida and Trevor Story through at least the 2027 season. However, the Sox have a much smaller arbitration class and do not have the specter of a potential star’s departure hanging over them, as the Jays do with Guerrero. They’re expected to make around $136 million in payroll in 2025 (again, via RosterResource) — which is modest compared to their franchise spending levels.
However, the Red Sox have been cutting back on spending in recent seasons. They opened the 2022 season with a $206 million salary but have spent in the $170-180 million range since 2020. Going back to 2018, when they last won the World Series, the Sox opened the season at $233 million. They followed that up with $236 million in 2019 (both figures via Cot’s). Signing Soto would require a willingness to return to 2018-19 levels — if not exceed them — but there are some signs the organization is ready to do so.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been vocal about his intention to “deliver.”[ing] “The team that can win the AL East and make a deep playoff run,” he said, adding that the Sox needed to be willing to be a big player in the free agent and trade markets in order to do that. Skeptics will return to Chairman Tom Werner’s unfortunate and oft-derided “full speed” comments from a while back, but Breslow has taken a more direct and frequent stance on his intention to be active in both markets.
The Sox have multiple areas they will need to target, with Breslow also expressing his intention to “raise the ceiling” in the rotation. (They’ve also been linked to Max Fried, lending more credence to the idea that they’re ready to spend this winter.) Soto won’t accomplish that specific goal, nor will he help balance the left-handed lineup significantly. (One of Breslow’s stated goals), but this is of little consequence. Young, influential free agents like Soto only come around every few decades; Adding him to the lineup is a unique endeavor in itself, and the rest of the team’s specific goals could take a back seat to such a rare endeavor.
