If anyone were to ask the MLB teams to raise their hand if they want Juan Soto—we bet most would! At least till now, we have around six and seven teams who are seriously running after clenching the Dominican icon. But we know, getting hands on the gem of the off-season isn’t so likely. Let alone a high-profile Scott Boras client. For Soto, two things are important: a winning team and of course a stellar contract. If you go by Jon Heyman’s words, the magic number is $600 million. But it seems like the number could even touch Shohei Ohtani!

Speaking of Ohtani and the Los Angeles Dodgers, they too are in the race. They are as serious as the New York Yankees, the New York Mets, or the dark horse—the Toronto Blue Jays. However, there is good news for at least the New York Yankees on the horizon—though they lost to the Dodgers in the World Series in the case of Soto, they might not win. Well, that’s not what we are saying; rather, Jeff Passan, from ESPN, has said!

Dodgers out of the Juan Soto race?

The LA Dodgers have a lineup of the biggest stars from Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and the season’s MVP, Freddie Freeman. Plus, they fulfill two of the criteria mentioned above that Juan Soto needs. They are a winning team, and they have money to give. Remember that Ohtani, having deferred his payroll, has opened up the team to explore more and spend more. Yet Jeff Passan says that the Dodgers wouldn’t pursue Soto.

“The Los Angeles Dodgers won’t chase after Soto,” said ESPN’s Jeff Passan. Passan’s reason? Well, the Dodgers lineup! According to Passan, LA already has Ohtani as a designated hitter, and hence there would be no place for Soto in their lineup. So while they could afford Soto, their long-term salary commitment to Ohtani and Betts, along with their need for starting pitching, makes a deal with Soto kind of not possible.

Plus, there are some of the biggest teams all out to get the 26-year-old. And it’s already well known that Juan Soto prefers to play East Coast, leaving less room for the Dodgers. But it bodes well with the Mets, Yankees, and Red Sox. However, the Blue Jays might take Soto just under these teams’ noses.

The Blue Jays serious contender to clinch Juan Soto

The Toronto Blue Jays are making a serious play for Juan Soto. And it does make sense because they need to strengthen their offense. Soto is taken as one of the top hitters in this year’s free-agent market, and hence he might be the best fit. Plus, the Blue Jays need someone with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. Jeff Passan too reported that “Soto is starting to take meetings with teams this week in California, and the Toronto Blue Jays will be first, according to major league sources.” Not only are they first in line to talk to, but Jays have a pocket full of money, quite literally!

This is because the Blue Jays have money to spare, because last time they were about to give Shohei Ohtani, but he went for the LA Dodgers. This had left the team stranded, given they had no backup, and this time the result of that—they were in the last place. So it won’t be tough to imagine that they would go all out, so this isn’t their fate in the 2025 season.

Do you think Juan Soto will go with the Blue Jays? Let us know in the comments.