Blue Jays brass will reportedly fly to Los Angeles this week to meet with Juan Soto’s reps. Atkins and Shapiro will likely present their best offer for the best free agent available, but will it be enough? The Red Sox, Mets and Yankees are next and history tells you that going first in negotiations is never a good thing. Mal and Griff ponder the unexpected departure of popular hitting coach Matt Hague to the Pirates and set up the arrival of Jays new director, amateur Scouting, Marc Tramuta. In addition, Exit Philosophy discusses Bo Bichette’s place in MLB shortstop rankings, predicting a strong 2025 bounce back for the 26-year-old. Finally, we discuss nominees for BBWAA Awards week starting on Monday.

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For the full catalogue of Richard Griffin's work, including weekly Blue Jays/MLB columns, a weekly MLB Power Rankings column, exclusive conversations with some of the game's greats, past and present, and the Exit Philosophy podcast, visit https://www.griffsthepitch.com/