The Dodgers expected to be in Juan Soto’s free agent market

Dodgers’ focus on Juan Soto is currently focused on figuring out how to get sluggers out for the remainder of the World Series, but once the offseason begins, the club may 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 launch more of a full-fledged pursuit “if he’s interested” if they come 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 LA 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 guaranteed money ever given to a baseball player. The “advance” warning is necessary since Shohei Ohtani‘s $700MM deal is so heavily deferred that the contract is worth about $437.8MM in present value, and Soto’s next deal is expected to exceed the $500MM mark.

According to RosterResourceThe Dodgers already have about 257.2MM committed to their 2025 salary, as well as an estimated 253.1MM on their luxury tax number. The latter again puts the Dodgers over the tax threshold ($241MM) for next season, and of course adding Soto at an average annual value of $50MM will put the club over the top tax penalty of $301MM. Since Los Angeles has already been a tax-paying team for the past four seasons, crossing the $301MM threshold would more than double the amount of the team’s tax on any overruns beyond the $241MM mark.

Of course, the luxury tax clearly hasn’t been a big concern for the Dodgers in their pursuit of top talent. with Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Yoshinobu Yamamotoand Will Smith signed throughout the rest of the decade and Freddie Freeman and Tyler Glasnow both signed through at least 2027, the Dodgers won’t duck under the tax line anytime soon, and the financial penalty is offset by the simple fact that the team is a revenue-generating dud.

There are plenty of obvious reasons why Soto would have his own interest in joining a perennial contender like the Dodgers, though geography remains the lingering question surrounding Soto’s impending free agency. While Soto and Padres owner Peter Seidler made some progress in extension negotiations prior to Seidler’s passing a year ago, Heyman reiterates 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 land him this winter, as those two New York teams may better suit Soto’s preferences for both location and contract.

While the Yankees and Mets alone could generate a good bidding war, Soto and agent Scott Boras would certainly have an 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 LA is fairly limited, the team could easily move on to a number of other options on the free agent market.

For example re-signing Teoscar Hernandez would be much cheaper than signing Soto, and Hernandez is already a known quantity in Los Angeles and a major offensive force in his own right. Heyman also figures the Dodgers will look to add another big-time pitcher to their injury-riddled rotation, though Ohtani, Glasnow, Clayton Kershawand others are expected to be healthy for opening day.