The Los Angeles Dodgers are on top of the baseball world right now. Andrew Friedman and Co. dropped a cool billion dollars to bring Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and other stars to Chavez Ravine, then watched as his team steamrolled the New York Yankees to capture a World Series title. They have the money, they have one of — if not the — best player development machines in the sport and, most importantly, they have the Commissioner’s Trophy in tow.
So it came as no surprise when whispers began to circulate that the Dodgers might make a run at Juan Soto in free agency this winter. L.A. shot the moon last offseason and got rewarded with a title, so why not try it again? Payroll is never an object, especially not with Ohtani deferring most of his contract, and the Dodgers can pitch Soto on making oodles of money in a great market with great weather while playing for the league’s model franchise. It all seemed so crushingly inevitable; of course Los Angeles would get its way; they’re the Dodgers, after all.
Thankfully for the rest of the league, though, it seems like this winter’s doomsday scenario isn’t about to come to pass after all. Much is still left to be determined in the Soto sweepstakes, but recent reports suggest that a move to L.A. isn’t on the table.
Juan Soto reportedly set on staying on the East Coast
MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand offered a Soto update from the GM Meetings on Tuesday, where the general consensus is that this will wind up being a two-horse race between the Yankees and the New York Mets. Per Feinsand, Soto likes being in New York, and while other teams might try to pry him away, they’re fighting an uphill battle…