Juan Soto's new free agency link is worst-case scenario for MLB fans
The story of the upcoming offseason will be Juan Soto's free agency. Where he signs and how much money he makes will be fascinating to see go down. Since his contract projection is so massive, only a select group of teams will actually have a legitimate shot of signing him.
The New York Yankees are the likely favorites right now, given the fact that he's currently on the team and helped lead them to the World Series. If the Yankees are willing to give Soto what he wants financially, they'd be virtually impossible to turn down.
The New York Mets are a popular suitor for Soto, given the fact that they're owned by the richest owner in the sport, Steve Cohen. New York making a run to the NLCS should only help their case as well.
Other big market teams like the Toronto Blue Jays and Philadelphia Phillies can make sense if they're aggressive enough, but at the end of the day, most analysts expect this to be a New York bidding war for one of the greatest talents we've seen in recent memory. This bombshell report from Jon Heyman of the NY Post, though, suggests that there's another suitor lurking, and it's the worst possible suitor for MLB fans. That's right, the Los Angeles Dodgers are expected to enter the Soto sweepstakes according to Heyman.
"The Dodgers, already arguably baseball’s best offense — it’s either them or the Yankees — intend to make a play for Soto “if he’s interested” in coming, sources say."
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Juan Soto signing with the Dodgers would be the worst landing spot for MLB fans
The duo of Soto and Aaron Judge was already thought of by many to be unfair. Soto signing with the Dodgers would be downright ridiculous. How exactly would a team pitch to Shohei Ohtani, Soto, Mookie Betts, and Freddie Freeman at the top of this order four times per game? Oh yeah, they wouldn't.
The Dodgers are two wins away from winning the World Series despite a slew of pitchers on the IL, Freeman playing on one leg all postseason long, and solid contributors like Will Smith and Gavin Lux being mostly no-shows in October. There's a very good chance that the Dodgers will be even better next season without Soto, so just imagine how good they'd be with him.
Watching Soto on the biggest stage like we have this season would be awesome, but it'd be so much better to see him go against the Dodgers, not join them. Soto signing a mega-deal to join Los Angeles would be reminiscent of what Kevin Durant did when he signed with the Golden State Warriors.
There're no guarantees in MLB, but Soto going to the Dodgers would be as close to guaranteeing them World Series wins annually, which is the last thing that MLB fans should want to see. The Dodgers absolutely should pursue this, but fans should not root for it.