AL East team was willing to offer Juan Soto more than $765,000,000, per sportscaster

The New York Mets beat the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays by signing Juan Soto to a 15-year, $765 million, contract in December last year. It's the largest contract offered in American sport history, topping the 10-year, $700 million deal Shohei Ohtani had penned with the Los Angeles Dodgers in the previous offseason.

Veteran MLB broadcaster Michael Kay said that the Toronto Blue Jays have been waiting eagerly to make a splash in the free agent market, although they have fared quite poorly so far. He said that the Blue Jays were willing to go beyond the eventual offer from the New York Mets to acquire Juan Soto earlier this offseason.

Kay, a television play-by-play announcer for the New York Yankees on YES Network, shared his perspective on the Blue Jays repeatedly failing to land superstar free agents like Juan Soto over the past couple of seasons, on The Michael Kay Show on ESPN on Friday. [0 - 6:27]

"The Blue Jays are desperate," he said. "They can't get anybody to take their money. Corbin Burnes couldn't do it. Soto, no, wouldn't do it. And I've heard from very connected people that the Blue Jays wanted to pay anything to get Soto. They were willing to top the Mets offer."

The Blue Jays were also rumored to have made the highest offer when Shohei Ohtani had turned up for free agency at the end of the 2023 season.

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Michael Kay explains why superstars like Juan Soto rejected move to Blue Jays

Juan Soto joined the Mets for the largest ever contract in sports history (Image Source: Imagn)

Michael Kay also outlined the reasons why Juan Soto, like many other superstars, has turned down lucrative contracts from the Toronto Blue Jays in recent years.

The Blue Jays have failed to land any big names even though Toronto is an excellent city to live in, and the team has spent a large amount on their home stadium.

"Players would prefer not to play where they have to cross customs on every single road trip," Kay said. "It's a pain, and when you have to do it all, every single road trip, in and out, it's a lot. It adds hours upon hours each time you trip. And then, there's the difference in the money.

"Toronto is a great city; I love Toronto," he continued. "It's clean. It's bustling. The stadium is great. They poured $400 million into that stadium, and no one wants to play there."

Rogers Centre in Toronto posted the ninth highest attendance in the MLB during the regular season last year, with an average turnout of 33,102 per game, as per Baseball-Reference.com.