The defending World Series champions will soon meet with the offseason's top free agent. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Juan Soto will have a meeting early this week, perhaps as soon as Tuesday, reports MLB.com. The Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets, and New York Yankees have already had their meetings and more could be in the works too.
Soto, our top-ranked free agent, is an AL MVP finalist after hitting .288/.419/.569 with a career-high 41 home runs and a career-high 7.9 WAR with the Yankees in 2024. The Dodgers of course beat Soto and the Yankees in the World Series. Now they have a chance to beat him and get him to join them. Does the Dodgers pursuing Soto make sense though? Can they even fit him into their payroll? Here's what you need to know about a possible fit between the Dodgers and Soto.
The Dodgers need Soto more than you may think
With Mookie Betts expected to move back to the infield next year, the Dodgers are short on outfielders. Tommy Edman will shift back to center field, his best position, and right now James Outman and Andy Pages are the leading in-house candidates to man the corners. Betts and utility man Chris Taylor are the only other outfielders on the 40-man roster.
Teoscar Hernández slugged 33 home runs in 2024 after signing a one-year contract, and is now a free agent. He wants to return to the Dodgers, though the team would be doing themselves a disservice if they didn't at least meet with Soto. Soto is on the very short list of the game's best hitters. The defending World Series champs should always be in on a player like that.
Mostly though, the Dodgers need outfielders, and while Soto isn't much of a defender, his bat more than makes up for his glove. If the Dodgers manage to land Soto, their regular lineup could look like this:
- DH Shohei Ohtani, LHB
- 2B Mookie Betts, RHB
- RF Juan Soto, LHB
- 1B Freddie Freeman, LHB
- C Will Smith, RHB
- 3B Max Muncy, LHB
- CF Tommy Edman, SHB
- LF James Outman, LHB and Andy Pages, RHB
- SS Miguel Rojas, RHB
Pretty left-handed heavy at the top, though those aren't your run of the mill lefty hitters. Ohtani, Soto, and Freeman are all Hall of Fame bound and they all hit lefties well. Point is, it doesn't matter what your lineup looks like. When you have a chance to get a player like Soto, you do it, and you figure out the rest later. The Dodgers just so happen to need an outfielder. It's an easy fit.
Adding Soto should not be an issue payroll-wise
The Dodgers finished 2024 with a $351.7 million payroll for competitive balance tax (CBT) purposes, per Cot's Baseball Contracts. That is a franchise record, rather easily too, though their estimated 2025 CBT payroll commitments total $272.3 million. There is no reason -- zero -- payroll should come down next year. Winning the World Series comes with a massive windfall, and it seems like every week the Dodgers announce a new sponsorship agreement with a Japanese company. Ohtani is a license to print money.
CBT payroll is based on average annual value and even a $50 million per year commitment for Soto would leave the Dodgers about $30 million shy of their 2024 payroll. They need to re-sign Clayton Kershaw, re-sign or replace Blake Treinen, perhaps bring in another outfielder in addition to Soto, and add depth pieces, so they would put that remaining $30 million or so to good use. Bottom line, the Dodgers have plenty of spending room based on their 2024 CBT payroll. Affording Soto will not be an issue.
Ohtani took all those deferrals for this reason
So the Dodgers could surround him with top tier talent like Soto. Ohtani's 10-year, $700 million contract pays him only $2 million per year with the other $68 million deferred well down the line. For CBT purposes, Ohtani counts as roughly $46 million per year rather than the full $70 million. That is still the highest individual CBT hit in the sport, but it is well south of Ohtani's true value.
Ohtani reportedly offered to take those deferrals -- the Dodgers did not bring the idea to him -- because he wants them to be able to build the best possible roster around him. Well, Soto is a recently turned 26-year-old who is close to the perfect hitter. Elite power, elite bat-to-ball skills, elite plate discipline, rises to the occasion. When Ohtani took those deferrals, he did so with the idea the Dodgers would add players like Soto, or at least make a push to sign him. The Dodgers owe it to Ohtani to do this.
