Blue Jays Rumors: Toronto is out on Pablo Sandoval

It seemed like a long-shot when we heard last week that the Toronto Blue Jays we a distant second to the Boston Red Sox in the Pablo Sandoval bidding. However new reports have indicated that those chances have dwindled from “slim” to “no fat chance”.

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, the Blue Jays have appeared to drop out of the market for Pablo Sandoval. Citing industry sources, Nicholson-Smith notes that Toronto and Sandoval’s agents have not had any recent contact and there is no indication that the Blue Jays are still considering pursuing the free agent third baseman.

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That would seem to hold true with what general manager Alex Anthopoulos noted last week that the team was not close on any other players at this time.

"“We don’t have any offers out to anybody, we’re not being ‘aggressive’ with anybody. Our focus was on Martin and that just took a lot of time and energy. We didn’t have five balls in the air, it was sole singular focus on getting him done.” – Alex Anthopoulos (h/t MLB.com)"

Recent reports have indicated that the Boston Red Sox remain the favorites to sign the 28-year-old Sandoval, who is said to be looking for a 6-year deal. The San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres, as noted by MLB.com’s Corey Brock, are still on the outside looking in. However, Jon Heyman of CBS Sports indicated on Saturday that the Padres a “serious” bid on Sandoval.

For the Blue Jays, the signing of Sandoval would represent another big drop in the bucket after the team inked catcher Russell Martin last week. A five or six-year deal at $90-$100 million made the possibility of landing Sandoval somewhat unlikely to begin with, even with Martin’s backloaded deal. With the Red Sox and Giants in hot pursuit, Toronto likely deemed it better to walk away at this time and focus on other available players and needs.

The Blue Jays still have needs to fill at second base, left field, and in the bullpen. As Alex Anthopoulos indicated last week, the team is currently working both free agent and trade channels in hopes of filling those needs, including finding a possible home for incumbent catcher Dioner Navarro.

Needless to say, the Hot Stove is still burning. We’re just no longer cooking Panda.