The Toronto Blue Jays’ top priority this offseason is signing New York Yankees superstar free agent Juan Soto. But that same task is also the top priority for the Yankees, Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Mets.
Signing Soto is going to be very difficult, especially as the rumored floor for his deal is now over $600 million. If the Blue Jays miss out on Soto, they need to have a good backup plan.
Jacob Mountz of FanSided has made a very solid suggestion. Mountz urged the Blue Jays to pivot to their former outfielder, Teoscar Hernández of the Dodgers, as an emergency Soto backup plan.
Hernández played six seasons in Toronto before being traded.
“One of the key problems facing the Blue Jays has been their outfield.
The cumulative production they received from their outfielders was among the worst. But if we rewind by a couple of years and visit a recently bygone Blue Jays team, we will see that this was a different story not so long ago.
Why? The main reason was Teoscar Hernández,” Mountz wrote. “He is currently a free agent and is estimated to net over $71 million according to Spotrac.”
The Blue Jays have likely had their eyes set on Hernández for the last few months.
After the Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a huge deal, they likely took themselves out of the Soto race, too.
Toronto may have to jockey with the Dodgers and other contenders for him, but if there’s any way for the Blue Jays to bring him back to where he began his career, that would be the best emergency backup plan.
