Juan Soto Trade Rumors: Blue Jays expected to include Alek Manoah in the package for star hitter
San Diego Padres All-Star outfielder Juan Soto is headlining this offseason, with his trade rumors to various teams making the rounds around the league. Along these lines, having been previously rumored with the New York Yankees, it seems like the Toronto Blue Jays are already prepared with a trade idea.
According to MLB Insider, Jon Heyman reported that Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah is the latest addition to the expected trade of Juan Soto to Toronto.
The right-handed pitcher had an underwhelming season on the mound, going 3-9 with an ERA of 5.87 and 79 strikeouts in 19 appearances.
Moreover, Soto's addition to the star-studded Blue Jays lineup will only do good for the ballclub, who are trying to stay afloat in the competitive AL East. The 2023 season saw them finish third in the division with a record of 89-73, making the Wild Card round. However, they were swept by the Minnesota Twins in the Wild Card round, marking an end to a spirited season.
Will Juan Soto sign a contract extension with the team that trades for him?
The 2023 All-Star and Silver Slugger awardee is not expected to sign a contract extension for the team that trades for him this offseason, according to analyst Ken Rosenthal.
During his appearance on the Foul Territory podcast, Rosenthal believes that since his agent is Scott Boras, he may encourage Soto to build his value to command better value in the 2024 offseason.
"The one point that I wanted to make is regarding extension, say the Yankees trade for him is that Soto is represented by Scott Boras and Scott Boras's clients generally do not sign extensions, he encourages them to go to open market and establish your value there," Rosenthal said on Foul Territory. "That is almost the case with his clients. There are exceptions but I don't expect Soto to be one of them.
"He's not going to sign, in my opinion," Rosenthal added. "If the Yankees throw $500 million at him, ok, maybe, but if you got $500 million without the free agency, why not just wait for free agency? So if you are trading for Juan Soto, you are getting him for one year."
According to Rosenthal's reasoning, it appears that whoever trades for Juan Soto should not hold out hope for contract extensions.