The Dodgers’ focus on Juan Soto is currently directed towards figuring how to get the slugger out during the remainder of the World Series, but once the offseason begins, the club could be looking to add Soto to its own lineup. The New York Post’s Jon Heyman reports that the Dodgers are interested in Soto and will start more of a full-fledged pursuit “if he’s interested” if coming to Los Angeles.
As Heyman notes, the Dodgers’ deep pockets have allowed them to at least check in on virtually every major free agent in recent years, so if anything, it would be unusual if L.A. didn’t have Soto on its offseason wish list. The Dodgers are also one of the few teams that can reasonably meet Soto’s asking price, which is widely expected to be the most upfront guaranteed money ever given to a baseball player. The “upfront” caveat is necessary since Shohei Ohtani’s $700MM deal is so heavily deferred that the contract is worth around $437.8MM in present value, and Soto’s next deal is expected to surpass the $500MM mark.
According to RosterResource, the Dodgers already have roughly $257.2MM committed to their 2025 payroll, as well as a $253.1MM estimate on their luxury tax number. The latter again puts the Dodgers over the tax threshold ($241MM) for next season, and naturally adding Soto for a minimum of a $50MM average annual value would put the club over the highest tax penalty tier of $301MM. Since Los Angeles has already been a tax-paying team for the last four seasons, crossing the $301MM threshold would more than double the size of the team’s tax on any overages beyond the $241MM mark.
Of course, the luxury tax has clearly not been a major concern for the Dodgers in their pursuit of top-tier talent. With Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and Will Smith signed through the rest of the decade and Freddie Freeman and Tyler Glasnow both signed through at least 2027, the Dodgers won’t be ducking under the tax line any time soon, and the financial penalty is offset by the simple fact that the team is a revenue-generating juggernaut.
There are plenty of obvious reasons why Soto would have his own interest in joining a perennial contender like the Dodgers, though geography continues to be the lingering question surrounding Soto’s impending free agency. While Soto and Padres owner Peter Seidler made some headway in extension talks prior to Seidler’s passing a year ago, Heyman repeats the long-held belief that Soto would prefer to play on an East Coast team, all things being equal. This could make the Yankees or Mets the favorites to sign him this winter, as the two New York teams can better fit Soto’s preferences of both location and contract.
While the Yankees and Mets alone could generate a nice bidding war, Soto and agent Scott Boras would certainly have a vested interest in keeping other teams in the hunt, be it the Dodgers or other potential suitors like the Giants, Blue Jays, or Nationals. If the Dodgers perceive that Soto’s interest in coming to L.A. is fairly limited, the team could easily move onto any number of other options on the free agent market.
For instance, re-signing Teoscar Hernandez would be much less expensive than signing Soto, and Hernandez is already a known quantity in Los Angeles and a big offensive force in his own right. Heyman also figures the Dodgers will look to add another big pitcher to its injury-ravaged rotation, even though Ohtani, Glasnow, Clayton Kershaw, and others are expected to be healthy by Opening day.
Yankee Clipper
Might as well…..
abcrazy4dodgers
From Soto’s camp. Create your own economy 101.
Acoss1331
Heyman out here doing Scott Boras’s bidding!
deweybelongsinthehall
Probably correct but if there ends up being truth to it, this could be what creates a nightmare at the next MLBPA negotiations. Players love it under the theory that a high tide raises all boats but it’s not good for the league if only a couple of teams end up with the very best. Having a hard cap and floor spreads the talent around, which is best for the league. I’m thinking most of the owners will try to force a change. Present penalties have little effect on the Dodgers, Mets and Yankees.
hiflew
Anyone surprised by that has not been paying attention for the past decade. The Dodgers spent more in free agency last year than the rest of the league COMBINED. It is not a level playing field. They are good at being the rich guys, but you’ll never convince me that it is fair.
LordShade
Because it isn’t fair. The MLB heavily, heavily favors the rich teams.
Dustyslambchops23
Not really, it just doesn’t punish cheap owners enough.
The crying by commenters like hiflew is annoying, Dodgers ownership wants to win and backs up that desire with money. That’s what competition is.
Gwynning
Carry your thoughts one step further Dusty, and 90% of the League can’t compete with that level of spending though.
McGrundle
There is the real problem. People are allowed to own teams who have no desire to be competitive.
Zerbs63
All the owners are rich, the Dodger owners just invest their money back into their team. It’s like a fan of the Dodgers owns the team. Should all owners just keep more money? No a player should be payed whatever they are worth, and they are worth whatever a team is willing to pay them.
bkbk
rel·a·tiv·ism
/ˈrelədəˌviz(ə)m/
noun
noun: relativism
the doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.
JoeBrady
All the owners are rich,
======================
More silly crap. Teams like the NYY and LAD probably have triple the free cash flow of the smaller markets.
mlb fan
“Heavily favors the rich”…Isn’t that pretty much the way it works in real life too?..The rich having an advantage is hardly a new concept.
Terry B
All these owners are billionaires, they can spend if they choose to do so but they all like Jerry Jones, cheap MFers, so don’t blame the Dodger Ownership group!
Lets Go DBacks
If I’d have a billion, I would be wary of spending 700MM on Ohtani, let alone add 500MM of that for Soto. According to your reason, after those 2 contracts my money would be gone. Lesson learned: not all teams can spend like the Dodgers.
I’m not crying though, money isn’t everything in sports, see the Diamondbacks’ World Series run last year.
Cam
That’s not quite true – it’s about cashflow management. If you give someone a $500m contract, you’re not just giving them $500m today. It’s revenue v outgoings, and every team owner can afford to manage a Soto contract. Most of them are just choosing to pocket the revenue rather than reinventing.
metsin4
So you think your team would have zero revenue with those players?
Luis_Fazenda
It’s fair up until the time that the league gets off its tail and instills a legitimate salary cap…which will never happen, because, among other things, the Players Assoc will never agree to it. While the big market teams acknowledge the luxury tax, it’s obviously not the deterrent the league had hoped. It’s only served to separate the have’s and the have-not’s even further.
FartPocket
It is fair. It’s capitalism. Sorry, your oligarch is less invested than California’s oligarch. Their bread and circuses are better because they operate in a better area.
dm867
I’ve said this a hundred times, but obviously it needs to be said again: the MLB cannot operate on pure capitalism. It would fail. The teams need each other to have a league. If McDonalds runs Burger King, Taco Bell, In n Out and Dominoes out of business it’s good for them. If the Sox to eight major market teams run the others out of business, it hurts them.
mlb fan
“You’ll never convince me that it is fair”…Life has never been “fair”, my friend. The Dodgers certainly won’t try to convince you.
They’ll just keep leveraging their 48,000+ daily crowds(and MASSIVE tv audience)and buying, trading for and drafting the best players available. Hate the game, but don’t hate the players.
whyhayzee
It’s simple really, baseball teams depend on their market and teams with smaller markets are at a disadvantage. Nothing to do with the wealth of the owner. This is not a business reality it is a sports as entertainment reality. You can put a successful company in a lot more places than you can put a successful sports franchise. The simple solution is shared revenue. There are ways to rid the game of failure owners and failure cities, you just need to be willing to sell and or move the failing franchises. Allowing them to continue in their stench of mediocrity is the problem.
charles73
A lot of the small teams that don’t get into the playoffs regularly are run by owners who simply don’t want to open up their pocketbooks, even though they could. Baltimore could be in the Series now if they’d spent more money on pitching. Cleveland could have gone further with another batter or two. The Mariners could go far with a couple of bats. Detroit, KC, Cincinnati, Arizona are all promising. If the Rays doubled their payroll, they’d probably be in the World Series every year. Lol. It’s not about spending the most, but spending enough when ypur window is open, and all of the owners are capable of that.
stingray23
Doyers need to park it. They’re coming off like the old man Steinbrenner Yankees.
CardsFan57
Sometimes I have to wonder if the agents are paying for these articles.
BaseballClassic1985
Heyman is definitely a player’s best friend. He is no doubt shilling for Boras because Boras knows there isn’t a robust market for Soto. The Dodgers won’t be one of them, so Heyman -through Boras – throws out that the Dodgers are players to “scare” other teams.
Robertowannabe1
There are only about 5 teams that could make a run at Soto and the Dodgers are one of them. That is the only thing that would connect them with Soto at this time. I agree that they probably won’t be serious.
LongTimeFan1
@BaseballClassic1985
Just stop with the conspiracy theories and making stuff up. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to surmise the Dodgers could be in on Soto.
There’s zero facts to accuse Heyman of what you’re accusing him of. Boras doesn’t need any help selling Soto to the best team in the game – the Dodgers who have reams of money and could indeed be interested in a 26 year old stud hitter who’s on Hall of Fame track even at his age. He just turned 26 2 or 3 days ago.
Luis_Fazenda
Yup…it’s the usual journalistic clap trap crap. Throw a dart at the highest priced beef in the upcoming free agency, gather the 4 or 5 teams out of 30 that have a shot at his asking price. Then toss out the usual “expected-to-be-all-in” garbage in your article. Rinse, repeat.
Groundbreaking drivel to be sure.
BaseballClassic1985
You obviously don’t read Heyman regularly lolz
Luis_Fazenda
I try not to.
norcalblue
Ya think? Sheesh. This story is a joke and the coverage of it by mlbtr is even more ludicrous.
The editors here must think that only Dodger and Yankee fans are reading these days. Total non story!
Yankee Clipper
Yeah, and this is just the start of it. Imagine how crazy the “Soto to ‘X’ team” will be post-series.I doubt the Dodgers would be discussing their pursuit of a FA during the WS, particularly when that FA is on the opposing team.
Moreover, Manfred has to first expand rosters to 35 so the Dodgers can get fellow countryman Roki Sasaki (and the rest of team Japan) on their roster.
Anyway, I don’t doubt the Okinawa Dodgers will pursue Soto, but as of right now, I see him going to the Yankees or Mets.
dasit
if you can’t beat him, pay him
Big whiffa
They are about to beat them then pay him lol
Zerbs63
Umm The Dodgers are up 2-0
swtnes34
Sounds like more Dodger salaries being deferred…already $1 billion deferred…pffft
ATinz
Cry!
BaseballClassic1985
Any team that gives Soto $50 million per year is clinically insane. I hope the Dodgers or the Mets or the Blue Jays outbid the Yankees for his services.
Soto is a terrible outfielder and a below average baserunner, and this year’s WS is proving you need more than a hot Juan Soto to win. Adding Soto to Judge, Cole and Stanton would tie up their payroll for the foreseeable future. No thanks.
Dustyslambchops23
Yankees don’t win the division and wouldn’t be in the WS with out him.
BaseballClassic1985
Yankees needed 25+ other players to get where they are. Soto was a big contributor, of course, but he’s still just 1 player. There isn’t one rational argument for giving Soto $50 million per year over 10 – 12 years.
Yankees – theoretically – could sign Burnes, Snell and some other position player for the $ they’re going to have to pay out to keep Soto. I’d rather have 3 players over 1, who is quickly on his way to being strictly a DH.
10centBeerNight
Old enough to remember when Cohen was the boogeyman
CCooper8920
Well it won’t matter to them since they aren’t paying Ohtani a fair salary. Might as well and hopefully it truly ruins baseball
avenger65
CCooper8920: Manfred already has a head start when it comes to ruining baseball.
Stevil
He’s obviously going to Japan after this season. His family is there, he’s fluent in Japanese, and insists his teammates refer to him as ‘The Samurai’.
Smacky
Their bullpen is a bunch of reclamation products that are all hot at the same time. It’s like the Braves in ‘21, just playoff baseball.
halloffamernobodycares
You haven’t watched the Dodgers over the Friedman years, have you?
Butter Biscuits
Don’t believe this
DarrenDreifortsContract
Thanks but no thanks! Not even close to being worth the amount of money that he’s going to want. I rather resign Teoscar and sign a starting pitcher.
niel.marshal
Yep, just re-sign Teoscar, sign Tomoyuki Sugano and Roki Sasaki. Sugano said itself that money wasnt his prime target, but the chance to compete in the Majors and winning the rings would interest him. And Sasaki? Dude made it clear he wants join the Dodgers
Diggydugler
No chance unless he agrees to defer.
niel.marshal
LOL, How much Boras pay Heyman? Because the Dodgers doesnt not more DH imho
Wren
i give respect to the mans offensive skill but watching the series his defense is certainly not elite level. he’s doing fine in NY after behind slightly above averages in SD. rather see LA resign Teo.
avenger65
Wren: I agree with Soto’s poor defense. Then again, Ohtani doesn’t even play defense and is making more than any player in the history of the game. I also agree that the Dodgers should re-sign Teoscar. What more does he have to do to prove his worth to them?
Lefty_Orioles_Fan
Why don’t the Dodgers just buy the leage???
ATinz
* League.
Oldguy58
Dodgers tampering with Soto also?
AM21
Of course they are.
Jamie A
Cmon Manfred, sort this out. Let one team buy all the players!!!! Not good
s.drinkwater
I’m a Dodger fan and I think the Marlins have a better chance to sign Soto.
Terry B
Dodgers won’t pursue Soto, they going let Teoscar walk, sign Adames and add another top of the rotation starter! They need a shortstop, Rojas is way past his prime, he’s a backup bench guy. Good shortstops are hard to come by, outfielders are a dime a dozen and Adames is still young, Dodgers have been connected to him for a couple years now! Teoscar will get his bag elsewhere at age 32
EHenderson
Put alot on the Yankees winning it with a bookie based on someone’s advice (doesn’t seem like the type who would be interested in negotiating if the Yankees lose). Please say it was still the right move.
highflyballintorightfield
They’ll do what they did with Harper, offer him a short-term very high annual value contract, which he will turn down because, like Harper, he wants to chase the largest total contract.
Lindor's Bodyguard
DH is kind of reserved for the next 10 years or so. Dodgers going to hide Soto in LF for 10 years?
runningwithnailclippers
It is what it is (the rich teams are rich and there is no salary cap), but at what point does the disparity start leading to the crippling of the league and lessening even further of the total MLB fanbase? It seems like very shortsightedness of the owners.
avenger65
Anyone know why Soto prefers to play in the east?
mlb fan
A lot of people complain whether teams spend or don’t spend. Is it any wonder many teams just tune out the fans and spend as little or as much money as they want?
The biggest tr0ll
This is no surprise at all. I bet the Dodgers sign him too.
Luke Strong
MLB needs a salary cap to put an end to this disparity where the richest markets can buy up all the best players, it narrows the league to 4-6 teams who have a legit shot and every other city is a wild long shot.
Terry B
All these owners are rich, most of them just prefer to pocket the money instead of investing it in their team…Seriously! Don’t blame owners who are willing to spend!
rocky7
Of course the Dodgers will be in on every free agent they can be…while they can offer the money, is there a significant Dominican population in LA that we weren’t aware of which is supposedly one of his lesser known wants in addition to being paid…..who knows…but assuming the Dodgers are courting him while playing against him is silly.
TAKERDBACKS
Probably not but if that happens the league should really be in trouble. No one outside the dodgers fans are impressed if they win. When you buy everyone your suppose to win. The ironic thing is one of the best moves and why they are winning is Edman.Hes been incredible.
Garywally57
There needs to be a salary cap in baseball, period!