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 $700M deal is so heavily deferred that the contract is worth around $437.8M in present value, and Soto’s next deal is expected to surpass the $500M mark. According to RosterResource , the Dodgers already have roughly $257.
2M committed to their 2025 payroll, as well as a $253.1M estimate on their luxury tax number. The latter again puts the Dodgers over the tax threshold ($241M) for next season, and naturally adding Soto for a minimum of a $50M average annual value would put the club over the highest tax penalty tier of $301M.
Since Los Angeles has already been a tax-paying team for the last four season.
