Trading for Soto a ‘big decision’ says former Blue Jays GM Ash

Juan Soto has become the talk of Major League Baseball since he reportedly turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Washington Nationals.

Further reports suggest the Nationals are open to trading the All-Star slugger who has two years remaining on his contract.

Soto, 23, boasts a .901 OPS, along with 20 home runs and 43 runs batted in and would be a significant upgrade in the outfield for most clubs.

However, former Toronto Blue Jays general manager Gord Ash sees trading for Soto as a risky move in the long run.

“It’ll be interesting to see who ultimately trades for him, who’s willing to give up what Washington’s going to want, because I don’t think any club, short of the Yankees or the Dodgers, thinks they are going to be able to sign this guy,” Ash told TSN 1050 on Wednesday.

“For instance, let’s just say the Blue Jays had interest, and I’m sure they do because this is a tremendous talent, but can you really see yourself giving up four, five players for somebody you know in two years is gone? That’s a big decision that I don’t think anybody’s going to want to make.”

The Blue Jays fired manager Charlie Montoyo earlier this month in response to the club (50-43) not meeting expectations so far this season.

Ash, who currently works in the Milwaukee Brewers front office, says he “was a little caught off guard” by the timing of the firing as team president Mark Shapiro and general manager Ross Atkins have typically not made that type of in-season move throughout their history together in Cleveland and Toronto.

Ash sees letting Montoyo go as a difficult decision, but ultimately understands why it happened when it did.

“I do think the fact that John Schneider is there and had many of these players in the minor leagues with him and won a championship with many of these players in the minor leagues, that probably was a factor in that they knew they had a solid alternative,” Ash said.

“When you have expectations like they have and you don’t deliver, you know something is bound to happen. … Could it have been two, three, four weeks earlier? Maybe. Could it have been after the All-Star break? Maybe. The thing about it is when they’ve made that decision, you need to act on it. You can’t just sit on it.”

The Blue Jays will resume their season on Friday against the Boston Red Sox. Toronto enters the three-game set third in the American League East, and holding a two-game lead over Boston for the third wild-card spot.

Toronto began the season with the second-best odds to win the World Series at +950, behind only the Los Angeles Dodgers at +470. The team’s odds are now at +2000 to win it all.

Ash thinks the team will look to add some arms ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline but believes the recipe for turning the season around is much closer to home.

“I expect them to really adjust the bullpen with quality - not just with guys - but quality additions,” said Ash. “I really believe the offence can come alive. They do have a tough schedule … so this is not going to be any easy task by any stretch, but this is a team that we’ve seen it before, we know it’s there and capable of scoring some more runs.

“If you score more runs, maybe your pitching doesn’t need to be quite so good. Hopefully that’s the recipe that can work for them.”