Blue Jays' season would be even better if not for $141 million trade near-miss

The Toronto Blue Jays are in the midst of a magical season. 

Atop the AL East, having just traded for Shane Bieber on Thursday, it's easy to feel like the Blue Jays are on top of the baseball world. But there was a path, not that long ago, where Bieber wouldn't be the first star Toronto got from Cleveland.

And in that story, this Blue Jays team might be even better.

The Athletic's Zack Meisel reminded readers of the near-miss in a trade deadline breakdown this week: In 2022, the Blue Jays almost traded for Jose Ramirez.

The superstar third baseman was teetering on the brink of being sent away from Cleveland. It was the time when that franchise normally sends a player away to receive assets in return rather than shelling out big money.

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But Ramirez woke up one day in spring training and decided it was time to get a deal done, and he signed a seven-year, $141 million contract to stick around.

The Blue Jays, and the reported other finalist San Diego Padres, missed out.

Sportsnet reported at the time that the Blue Jays would've traded at least three of Alejandro Kirk, Randal Grichuk, Cavan Biggio and Nate Pearson to get the deal done.

Considering that Kirk is the only one of those players still in Toronto, that would've had the potential to age brilliantly for the Blue Jays.

Can you imagine a heart of the order with Ramirez and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. back to back?

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Ramirez is also the heartbeat of the Guardians, the kind of trade away that a franchise might not recover from for a very long time. He's got a self-confidence and baseball intelligence that rubs off on the rest of his teammates.

The Blue Jays are doing great without him, to be sure. But it's fun to imagine what could've been. This Toronto team, with that superstar? They'd be the World Series favorites.

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