The baseball world got some rather interesting news on Sunday evening between Games 2 and 3 of the 2024 World Series.
According to longtime baseball journalist Jon Heyman, the Dodgers are reportedly interested in signing soon-to-be free agent Juan Soto. Making this story even more fascinating is the fact Soto is currently starring for the Yankees — the team LA is currently battling against to win a World Series.
The thought of pairing Soto with the likes of Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and the rest of the Dodgers seems rather farfetched on the surface from a financial standpoint. However, is it really that crazy of an idea?
As everyone recalls, Ohtani deferred $680 million of his $700 million contract. He did so to free up financial flexibility for the Dodgers to be aggressive in putting together the best team possible. The Dodgers annually sell more season tickets than any team in the sport. Couple that with the financial windfall coming courtesy of the World Series run and Ohtani’s influence worldwide, and the Dodgers are raking in the cash.
Some may think Soto signing with the Dodgers would be bad for baseball. You’d essentially be putting together a starting lineup with arguably three of the top five players in the sport. At the same time, should this come to fruition, it would be a good thing for baseball in the sense that it should motivate other clubs to get better by investing accordingly.
Telling an owner how to spend their money is not a prudent thing to do. But, if you’re a club trying to get over the proverbial hump, and you see a loaded Dodgers team in front of you, what other choice do you have other than to spend money and make your team as good as it can be?
Now, this could all be for naught. Soto is represented by Scott Boras — a man who certainly knows how to manipulate teams through the media. This could all be a ploy to drive up Soto’s price in what could be a bidding war between the Mets and the Yankees. The smart money would be on Soto inking a long-term deal with one of those two clubs.
However, as they’ve shown in recent years with this elite ownership group/front office combination, don’t be shocked if the Dodgers flex their muscles here to make things interesting.
