It’s interesting that the Dodgers might see the Yankees there. Because, while the Dodgers broke the bank to sign key free agent Shohei Ohtani in the offseason, paving the way for L.A.’s magical playoffs to this point, current Yankees star Juan Soto will be the next free agent to command the same kind of jaw-dropping money (10 years, $700 million) that Ohtani received.
The two New York teams, the Mets and the Yankees, are expected to compete for Soto’s services. However, on “The Spotrac Podcast,” site managing editor and contract analyst Mike Ginnitti stated that the Dodgers will undoubtedly find a way to enter themselves into the conversation.
That is exactly how the team has been operated in recent years.
“They don’t just take the money and put it in their back pockets,” she claimed. “They used it on Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the pitcher who will start Game 2.” … It’s exactly what you need in a vast market. The gas pedal is always down. They’re in on every major player. Guess what? “They are going to make an offer to Juan Soto.”
Dodgers-Yankees World Series with a Juan Soto Subplot?
It’s possible that if the Dodgers face the Yankees, not only will the 2024 World Series be at stake, but so would the future of both clubs. The Yankees could keep Soto either way, but the consensus is that winning the World Series would ensure his stay in the Bronx.
Lose, and Soto will likely go to the highest bidder.
Soto is coming off a season in which he helped Aaron Judge carry a Yankees offence that would have crumbled without him. He hit.288 with a.415 on-base percentage and a.569 slugging percentage, driving in 41 home runs. He is projected to sign a contract worth more than $500 million in total—at Spotrac, the total is $514 million over 14 years, although that is likely too low.
Other estimates for Soto have risen much above the $600 million threshold.
Pitchers Will Be Eyed, Too.
Would the Dodgers reach that height? Perhaps not. However, given the talent on their roster, they have a lot to sell Soto on. Imagine a lineup that began with Betts, Ohtani, and Soto. That is most likely where the Dodgers will begin their talk with him.
If not Soto, they’ll go for other big MLB fish this winter.
“Guess what?” Ginnitti asked. “They plan to make an offer to Blake Snell and Corbin Burnes. Because they have no reason not to. Will it be the best offer available? Probably not. But they’ve earned the right to bargain a little bit because years like this require a town, not just one house.”
All of this is because the Dodgers, which were once completely dysfunctional from the top down, are now probably baseball’s best-run organization. Remember, this club was battered by injuries as it approached the World Series.
“The Dodgers have been so good for so long that there is a bit of a fatigue factor, somewhat like the Chiefs in the NFL, that we just take it for granted,” according to Ginnitti. “But the adversity they have gone through in the rotation, in the bullpen has been completely usurped by a magical year from Ohtani, standard to above-standard years from Betts and Freeman, and just some blockbuster performances.”
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