4 of the Blue Jays' best backup plans if they miss out on Juan Soto

With the current Toronto Blue Jays offseason, a lot of the focus has been on their pursuit of top free agent Juan Soto. Much like how last year’s signing of Shohei Ohtani has panned out with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season, the potential addition of Soto could ultimately become a huge game changer for the franchise.

Things are certainly looking up for the Jays, as they appear to be one of the finalists among those who have submitted offers in the Soto sweepstakes as of this moment. But what happens if it doesn’t work out in the end?

If we look back again to last offseason, the Jays didn’t have a backup plan after their failed attempt to land Ohtani. They did end up adding solid pieces in Justin Turner, Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Yariel Rodríguez, but none of them provided the significant impact that could have led the team to glory like how Ohtani did with the Dodgers. 

As a result, the Jays should have a plan in place this time around to ensure that they don’t go home empty-handed even if they miss out on Soto. Here, we will take a look at four prime candidates who Toronto can fall back on if they fail to sign the 26-year-old phenom. If the Jays can still manage to grab one of these targets, their offseason could still be deemed a success. 

4 of the Blue Jays best backup plans if they miss out on Juan Soto

Anthony Santander, OF

The Jays sure know a thing or two about Anthony Santander and his tenure with the Baltimore Orioles. With 49 runs scored and 21 career home runs against Toronto, the most he has put up against any team in the league, Santander had been a constant Jays killer all these years in an Orioles uniform. What better way to stop having to constantly face their nemesis than to sign him up to the team?

Santander is coming off the best season of his career in 2024 with the Orioles. In what turned out to be an All-Star season, he compiled a .235 batting average with an .814 OPS, 91 runs scored, 25 doubles, two triples, 44 home runs and 102 RBI in 155 games. Those numbers also netted him his first-ever Silver Slugger Award.

Santander has also shown to be quite durable in recent years, having played in at least 152 games in each of his past three seasons. That is an important factor to consider from the Jays’ standpoint, given that their main starting outfielders in the past couple of seasons (Daulton Varsho, Kevin Kiermaier and George Springer) have all missed some time due to injury or illness.

Also, as perhaps the second-best outfield free agent option behind Soto, Santander would be classified as a big offseason signing for any team, let alone the Jays. As a result, fans would likely be satisfied with such a potentially huge-impact player if Toronto were to miss out on Soto.

Alex Bregman, 3B

As the best third base option in free agency, Alex Bregman would be a massive upgrade for any contender that manages to pick him up this offseason. Bregman sports an impressive resume so far in his MLB career, as he has been a two-time All-Star, former MVP finalist and Silver Slugger winner, along with capturing two World Series titles along the way. Just for good measure, he proved this past season that he could get it done on the field as well by winning his first-ever Gold Glove Award.

Bregman has also shown to be quite consistent in terms of offensive production during his past three seasons, averaging more than 79 runs scored, 23 home runs and 75 RBI all while batting close to .260 in the process. If it hadn’t been for a strained left quadriceps injury that ended up keeping him out for over two months in 2021, it would have been even four straight seasons with such offensive production.

Bregman had been a massive impact player during the MLB postseason for his career. In 99 career playoff games, he has scored a whopping 63 runs along with registering 88 hits, 17 doubles, 19 home runs, 54 RBI, 53 walks and 64 strikeouts. With two championship titles under his belt, he knows exactly what to do to make a team a winner.

That breadth of postseason experience, together with his solid production on the biggest stage when his team needs him most is exactly what the Jays need to take them to the next level. Especially after their early playoff exits in three of the past five seasons.

Both Buster Olney of ESPN and more recently Mark Feinsand of MLB.com have named the Blue Jays as a potential landing spot for Bregman. Although Toronto hasn’t been in hot pursuit of the star third baseman just yet, any deviations in their plans to land Soto should quickly make them pivot to this can’t-miss difference-maker at the hot corner. Nevertheless, initiating preliminary talks with Bregman and his camp would be a wise move to ensure that any potential sudden pivot would go smoothly.

Willy Adames, SS

Bregman might not be the only hot commodity in the infield this offseason as Willy Adames has certainly put himself in the picture after a blazing 2024 season. This past year, Adames put together a spectacular campaign in which he amassed a .251 batting average and a .794 OPS, along with 93 runs scored, 33 doubles, 32 home runs, 112 RBI and 21 stolen bases over 161 games played. His 112 RBI led all shortstops in MLB, while his 74 walks led all NL shortstops.

Adames has been a consistent run producer in each of his past four seasons, averaging close to 28 home runs and 90 RBI during that time frame. Despite having a high strikeout rate throughout his career, he has made huge strides in greatly improving in that category. He has gone from his highest rate, at 36.1% back in 2020, all the way down to a career-low 25.2% this past season.

In addition, Adames has also improved his walk rate, raising it close to 11% over the past two seasons. With better plate discipline usually comes greater success at the plate, which we witnessed in his results in 2024.

To top it off, Adames was a monster hitting with runners in scoring position, as he batted .293 with an eye-popping 1.073 OPS, with 93 of his 112 RBI coming from such scenarios. Even with two outs with RISP, Adames still managed a .279 average with a whopping 1.061 OPS. Talk about being able to fully capitalize on run-producing situations, as he did exactly that. He would look perfect in the heart of the Jays lineup with Vladimir Guerrero Jr., giving opposing teams headaches whenever they came to bat.

One caveat, though, is the fact that Adames has spent his entire MLB career at the shortstop position. However, according to Jon Morosi, Adames is open to playing third base “for the right deal and the right team.”

Given his athleticism and work ethic, there is a good chance that he should be able to make the transition smoothly if needed. In the case of the Jays, if Bo Bichette still remains with the team going into the 2025 season, the hot corner would be where Adames needs to be to make things work. But to be able to have the Adames option as the Soto backup plan, he should be enough of a difference-maker to do the organization proud with the move if it comes to fruition.

Cody Bellinger, OF

Among the four candidates on this list, Cody Bellinger is the only one not currently a free agent. That is because he recently opted into his contract for the 2025 season to stay with the Chicago Cubs. But that shouldn’t stop the Jays from potentially pursuing the former NL MVP winner via the trade route. After all, Bellinger was also a target of the Jays last offseason in free agency. If they had a keen interest in him back then, they should definitely keep him on the radar just one year later.

Bellinger didn’t end up replicating his elite production numbers from his 2023 season, but he still finished 2024 with solid numbers across the board. In 130 games played with the Cubs, he batted .266 with a .751 OPS, 72 runs scored, 23 doubles, 18 home runs and 78 RBI while hitting in the heart of the order. Bellinger also showed that he has some leg speed left in him, going 9-for-11 in stolen base attempts.

More importantly, he was a beast in the clutch when hitting with runners in scoring position, something that the Jays could really use going forward. In 130 at-bats in such situations, Bellinger posted a stellar .331 batting average and .922 OPS while driving in 58 runs in the process.

As a former Gold Glove winner, he may no longer be performing at such an elite level, but he can still hold his own in the field on a daily basis. Added to the fact that he can also play first base in addition to the outfield, it could give the Jays multiple options in terms of his deployment. Moreover, with Bellinger being a left-handed bat, he would also help the Jays balance out their lineup, which is quite right-handed heavy as of this moment. 

With the Cubs looking to shed some salary ahead of the 2025 season, a Bellinger trade shouldn’t cost the Jays too many prospect pieces in return, as Toronto will likely need to eat some of it. So rather than potentially entering into a potential bidding war for Soto and others in free agency to solve their outfield problem, the trade route might actually be the safer bet than one would think as a backup plan for the Jays.

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