Juan Soto undeniably is the top free agent available this offseason, and similar to Shohei Ohtani last year, there’s expected to be a bidding frenzy among interested teams.
Most have identified the New York Mets and incumbent New York Yankees as the favorites to sign Soto, but the Los Angeles Dodgers, Toronto Blue Jays, Tampa Bay Rays and Boston Red Sox have been mentioned as being part of the picture to varying degrees.
Despite agent Scott Boras recently suggesting the process would be slow-moving, there does appear to be some activity on the horizon.
According to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, the Blue Jays are going to be first to meet with Soto in person this week:
Soto is starting to take meetings with teams this week in California, and the Toronto Blue Jays will be first, according to major league sources.
The Red Sox also are expected to speak with Soto as well:
Another team with Soto at the top of its want list: the Boston Red Sox. They also have a meeting on the books with Soto this week, and like the Blue Jays, their aggressiveness extends into the starting pitching market as well.
Lastly, the Mets and Yankees will get their respective opportunities to pitch the superstar in person at some point in the coming days:
The two favorites in the Soto derby, the New York Mets and New York Yankees, also have meetings scheduled, according to sources.
Soto’s case is unprecedented as he’s on the open market at just 26 years old and already having established himself as one of the best hitters in the sport.
Soto made his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2018 and remained with the team until being traded to the San Diego Padres at the 2022 deadline.
That was expected to help propel San Diego to the next level, and while their successes during Soto’s time included eliminating the Dodgers from the postseason, they didn’t get past the National League Championship Series.
The Padres then traded Soto to the Yankees in December 2023 rather than begin a season with him playing out a contract year.
Are Dodgers trying to sign Juan Soto?
While the Dodgers have been mentioned among the potential suitors for Soto, there is not any indication they’re due to meet with him.
That would suggest L.A. is unlikely to sign Soto, but of course matters could quickly change if president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman were to sense an opportunity.
Otherwise, the Dodgers might be more inclined to re-sign Teoscar Hernández and address their starting rotation rather than invest upwards of the $600 million that Soto is projected to receive in his new contract.
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