The Juan Soto sweepstakes seems to be down to five active bidders: the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, New York Mets, Toronto Blue Jays, and the Boston Red Sox.
Each team has its own niche that should attract Soto to its city. But the top two teams in the race, since the beginning, have seemed to be the two New York teams.
The Yankees are the incumbent team for Soto and their front office doesn’t typically lose bidding wars for star players. The Mets have the richest owner in the game and it’s hard to imagine anybody outbidding Steve Cohen.
Andy Martino of SNY recently revealed a shocking wrinkle in the Soto drama. Martino reported that it’s not the Mets, Yankees, or Red Sox that are expected to be the highest bidder for Soto.
“It’s no secret that the Yanks and Mets are ‘all in’ on Soto, as one league source reiterates, and that there is a widespread belief among bidders that Toronto will come in with the highest offer,” Martino wrote. “There is also widespread skepticism that Soto would go to the Blue Jays — but a source pushed back on that, saying that if a team is involved in the final bidding, Soto is willing to play there.”
The growing belief that the Blue Jays could be the top bidder in the Soto sweepstakes is quite a new development and it changes absolutely everything.
If Toronto matches or outbids Cohen and the Mets, New York would be wiped from the sweepstakes completely.
This wrinkle also turns the heart up on Hal Steinbrenner and the Yankees. If the Yankees fail to bring back Soto, they’re facing a realistic possibility of their 26 year old superstar joining Vlaidmir Guerrero Jr. in the AL East for the next 10 to 15 years.