Blue Jays dangerously close to repeating last winter's role in Juan Soto sweepstakes

Where were you when a Major League Baseball insider not named Jon Heyman sent out a social media post proclaiming that baseball's biggest unicorn was flying to the Great White North? Maybe we can crash that Yusei Kikuchi sushi party. Or how about a billionaire being in complete shock about his surroundings upon landing an airplane the whole world was tracking?

Amazingly enough, it was approximately 47 weeks ago that this series of events had Toronto Blue Jays fans in an absolute tizzy. Time flies! Unfortunately, it may have only been the beginning of the greatest piece of leverage used against Canada's only professional baseball team. The aftershocks are still being felt in the present day.

Blue Jays dangerously close to repeating last winter's role in Juan Soto sweepstakes

Juan Soto is the biggest fish of this winter's free agent market. Soto is only 26 years old and a four-time All-Star who just slashed .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI in a walk year. Not to mention a World Series winner when he was only 21 years old.

In short, the world is his oyster and he is letting the baseball world know just that. Minutes after his New York Yankees bowed out of the World Series, Soto was asked about his upcoming free agency and pulled no punches. His answer?

“I don’t know what teams want to come after me, but definitely, I’ll be open to this and every single team,” Soto said, per MLB.com's Bryan Hoch. “I don’t have any doors closed or anything like that. I’m going to be available for all 30 teams.”

So what's it going to take to reel in this big fish? Money, money, and more money. Agent Scott Boras surely knows and made a point to Sportsnet's Shi Davidi and Ben Nicholson-Smith about how wealthy the Toronto ownership is. The Jays should be feeling good because they had plenty of money stored in their coffers for Ohtani last winter.

However, as Jays Journal's Edward Eng smartly pointed out, this winter will be different because Toronto needs to spend money to plug the various holes on the roster. In short, the money they spend on this unique superstar is money they are not spending on the bullpen, fifth starter, third baseman, etc.

This is where the rubber is going to meet the road for the Blue Jays. Soto's camp has to know that the Jays are approaching these sweepstakes in an incredibly desperate position. A year ago, the Jays were in a position where you could dream on a team that made the playoffs and had clear strengths. Now, the club just had an extremely disappointing season and is desperate to show they can contend with more than just ballpark renovations. Take that and pair it up with Boras performing his typical agent jujitsu. That sounds like it will lead directly into leverage against the Blue Jays.

Last winter, the glass-half-full crowd could soothe their pain by saying that Ohtani actually visited their spring training facility and really liked their indoor Rogers Centre stadium. This year, however, it will be all about a free agent attempting to get the highest amount of money and the Blue Jays needing to be careful about how they plug their numerous holes. Does that not feel like the perfect spot for an agent to get the most amount of money?

The really sad part about this is how it could be prevented. The fact of the matter is the Jays have put themselves in this desperate position because of their own doing. People praise Ross Atkins and the front office for their deadline deals. However, let's not forget that those deadline dealings didn't occur in a vacuum. They happened because the front office basically had to call an audible on their underwhelming moves by trading away all the players on expiring contracts.

That mismanagement of assets and their continued dithering on signing a homegrown superstar has fans staring down the barrel of another free agent and his camp using the Blue Jays to extract more money from another team.

Blue Jays fans are just tired of the corporate verbiage and want to start seeing action. They are tired of the circus animals and pony shows that have led them absolutely nowhere. Things are getting restless among the fan base, and they are beginning to realize just how far they have fallen. It is becoming imperative that Toronto approach these conversations with eyes wide open.