Obvious Blue Jays infield upgrade may be harder to land after Willy Adames' mega-deal

On Saturday night, the San Francisco Giants officially inked superstar shortstop Willy Adames to a seven-year contract. Adames, 29, was the best-available shortstop on the open market and would've been an outstanding fit on the Toronto Blue Jays.

The Blue Jays had been linked to Adames, but they're also seen as fits for long-time Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman. Bregman, 30, is a two-time All-Star with two World Series rings, a Gold Glove and a Silver Slugger Award all under his belt. He's one of the more well-respected veterans of the game and is now arguably the best left-side infielder available on the open market.

That reason alone is the exact reason why the Blue Jays' pursual of him just became much more complicated. Now that Adames, regularly seen as a prime Juan Soto backup option for all who miss out on Soto, is off the board, Bregman may take Adames' place as the best-available option outside of Soto, who's in a league of his own.

Blue Jays pursuit of Alex Bregman just became more complicated

There's an extensive list of teams that stand out as clear fits for Bregman's services, especially seeing as how he's willing to switch positions if the club that signs him views it necessary. That openness to being flexible has likely increased his next contract.

This past season, Bregman hit 26 home runs - the most he's had since 2019 - and drove in 75 while posting a .260 average, .768 OPS and 118 OPS+. He's long been one of the more consistent and durable offensive forces in the game and is headed towards a pay day that'll appropriately compensate him for that.

The Blue Jays' fit is an obvious one and it could be at either third or second base. Ernie Clement and Will Wagner are both penciled in to starting roles on the Jays' 2025 Opening Day roster, but Clement can always shift to a super-utility role and Wagner is capable of playing multiple positions and DH-ing as well.

While the Blue Jays have a serious infield logjam on their hands, signing Bregman would automatically make him the most valuable infielder on the squad not named Vladimir Guerrero Jr. The only issue is that now there are at least 10 other teams shifting their focus from Adames to Bregman, so the competition just became much more tough.