Why a Juan Soto trade makes perfect sense for the Blue Jays

The Toronto Blue Jays are in a unique position of being a very solid team already that has the assets necessary to acquire one of the game’s best players in Juan Soto.

The Jays sit in the first Wild Card Spot in the AL and have been playing great baseball since the firing of Charlie Montoyo.

The lineup already fields one of baseball’s best offenses as they are third in runs scored and rank high in a variety of different categories as well. Adding Soto isn’t really a need, but it’s something they should strongly consider doing.

Juan Soto is the kind of player you move just about anything to acquire, and the Blue Jays have the pieces Washington would want.

The Blue Jays have a very young core centred around guys like Alek Manoah, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., and Bo Bichette to name a few. To go along with those young stars, the Jays have a farm system with four top-100 prospects according to MLB.com.

The Jays’ top two prospects Gabriel Moreno and Orelvis Martinez don’t have a path to a full-time spot anytime soon on the major league roster. Alejandro Kirk just started for the AL at the All-Star Game at catcher and the Jays have Danny Jansen too. Bo Bichette isn’t going anywhere and Matt Chapman is under contract for next season as well.

The Jays’ fourth-ranked prospect, Jordan Groshans, is another infielder who plays on the left side and doesn’t have a path to playing time. He’s a prospect I believe is someone the Jays should look to move for an upgrade, especially for Juan Soto.

To go along with those three prospects, the Jays’ third-ranked prospect, Ricky Tiedemann is an exciting 19-year-old southpaw but he’s only in A+ ball right now. He’s still a year or two away at least. For a team that has the chance to win now, I don’t believe he should be untouchable.

The Jays have four high-end prospects the Nationals could be interested in, and they also have Nate Pearson who has potential but hasn’t stayed healthy or performed well at the Major League level. He’s someone Washington could take a flyer on, and that the Jays can afford to get rid of.

If the Nationals want a big league piece as well, the Jays have options there. Cavan Biggio is a guy who’s had his ups and downs but has been much better since his slow start this season. He’s versatile and has three years of team control after this season. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is another guy Washington could want as he has another year of control after this one, but I don’t know if Toronto would have/want to give him up.

The Jays have the pieces to get it done. If they do, they’re adding a left-handed bat which is much needed to hit in the middle of the order surrounded by young stars. With Soto, the Jays would have the best offense in the game by far and would be one of the favourites to win the American League Pennant.

Juan Soto is 23 years old and is one of the five best players in baseball. He has a .878 OPS despite having pretty much no protection on the worst team in baseball. Soto is a generational talent who has two years of control after this season and the Jays would at the very least acquire someone who has performed well in the postseason and won the World Series in 2019 with the Nationals for three potential playoff runs. They can (and should) extend him to stay in Toronto for a very long time as well.

The Jays have the assets to get it done. Washington will be more willing to give him to an American League team as well. It’s definitely unlikely, but if the Jays want him they have a great shot at acquiring him.