The Blue Jays are expected to be a player for star outfielder Cody Bellinger now that they’ve lost out for Shohei Ohtani (and missed their opportunity for Juan Soto).
They seek a left-handed hitter, and options are limited.
The Cubs remain a threat to keep Bellinger, who’s said to have liked his first year on the North Side very much.
Bellinger seeks $200M plus.
We all started to think that maybe the Dodgers weren’t the Ohtani favorite for a day or two when all the hints of a Toronto link started popping up.
But the biggest “tell,” according to a rival, that he didn’t intend to sign with the Jays was when he traveled to see their spring facility in Dunedin, Fla.
As the exec mentioned, no one picks a team based on sparkling spring facilities.
The Jays do wonder if they were “used,” and they should. That’s allowed, of course.
The heavily deferred $700M Ohtani deal is valued at $437.8M by the union, which is $43.8M a year, or slightly more per year than the record $43.3M of Max Scherzer (tied by Justin Verlander).
The Giants have said they agreed to do that very deal, and it’s believed the Jays offered a comparable deal, as well.
The Cubs and Angels offers aren’t known.
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