Rival MLB teams think that the Toronto Blue Jays ‘reek of desperation’

If you talk to just about any Toronto Blue Jays fan, they’ll likely give you a strong opinion on their views of the front office.

With Toronto having not won a playoff game since 2016 and being a seeming perennial runner-up in the free agency market, general manager Ross Atkins and president Mark Shapiro have had a bevy of opinions thrown their way about their job performance during their time with the franchise.

It turns out it’s not just the fans who have an opinion on them.

According to ESPN’s Buster Olney, the Blue Jays are getting an interesting reputation around the league with rival front offices this offseason.

“I had a fascinating conversation with an executive in baseball who was at the general manager’s meetings last week. And before I even got a chance to ask him about specific teams, he goes, ‘Well, I can tell you this. There’s one team that absolutely reeks of desperation, and that’s the Blue Jays.’ He said they are going to do some big stuff,” Olney said to TSN 1050 Wednesday.

Toronto has been frequently mentioned as a possible candidate for New York Yankees superstar Juan Soto. According to Olney’s ESPN colleague Jeff Passan, Toronto is reportedly the first team to meet with him in California this week.

But according to Olney, the view around the league is that the Blue Jays — and other teams outside of New York — aren’t likely to be serious Soto contenders.

“I haven’t talked to anyone who really believes he’s going to sign with any team other than the Yankees or the Mets,” Olney said.

“I do think if you’re working in a front office, whether it’s the Red Sox or the Blue Jays or the Phillies or the Dodgers, you’ve got to do the meeting because the one thing you do not want to do is to go to spring training and an idiot like me is going to say ‘Hey did you guys call on Juan Soto?’ And your answer is no, we didn’t make the call. I mean, why not make the call? Why not have a meeting?” he added.

Only time will tell exactly how this offseason unfolds for Toronto, but it’s clear that it could be a reputation-defining one for their front office.