The Los Angeles Dodgers won the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes last offseason. Now, they're reportedly about to enter the Juan Soto sweepstakes.
The World Series champions are slated to meet with the star free agent outfielder on Tuesday, MLB.com's Mark Feinsand first reported, citing sources. The meeting comes just weeks after Los Angeles beat Soto and the New York Yankees in the Fall Classic.
Dodgers are up next with their Soto meeting expected Tuesday, per sources. More on Soto sweepstakes in story below: https://t.co/b82SyzxKRv
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) November 19, 2024
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Soto, the prize of this offseason's free agent class, was scheduled to sit down with the Yankees on Monday following meetings with the Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays, Feinsand also reported.
The other teams Soto could meet with include the Philadelphia Phillies, San Francisco Giants and Tampa Bay Rays, per Feinsand.
The Dodgers shelled out more than $1 billion in contracts last winter as they brought in the likes of Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernández. The majority of the spending spree was a record-breaking 10-year, $700 million deal for Ohtani and a 12-year, $325 million contract for Yamamoto.
And the Dodgers -- after recording MLB's best regular-season record en route to capturing the franchise's first World Series title in a full season since 1988 -- seemingly are willing to make another massive, long-term financial commitment in order to add Soto to their star-studded roster.
San Francisco Giants
ESPN's Alden González said that Ohtani's first year with the Dodgers "blew away all their financial projections." The deferrals in Ohtani's deal could help the club flexibility-wise in their pursuit of Soto, as well.
Soto has consistently been one of the game's top players throughout his seven-year career -- and he only just turned 26 last month.
In his first season with the Yankees, Soto hit .288/.419/.569 with 41 home runs and 109 RBI in 157 games. Soto, who has played at least 150 games in the last five full MLB seasons, also earned the fourth All-Star nod and fifth Silver Slugger award of his career in 2024.
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