The one reason the Dodgers can afford Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani

Ahead of Juan Soto's hotly anticipated free agency, the battle for the 26-year-old superstar figured to be a two-team race between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets. Sure, other teams would try to work their way in — your San Francisco Giants, Toronto Blue Jays and Boston Red Sox, maybe — but in the end the two crosstown rivals were the most motivated to get a deal done. And, crucially, had the deepest pockets of anyone in the sport.

Anyone, that is, except for the Los Angeles Dodgers. "But wait," you may have thought. "The Dodgers just handed out a historic, $700 million contract to Shohei Ohtani 12 months ago. Surely they can't afford another one of those on their books?" Which was not an unfair assumption. But unfortunately for fans of 29 other teams, it appears that L.A.'s interest in Soto is very, very real — and a sign of just how much of an impact Ohtani has already had on the franchise.

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Shohei Ohtani has made a run at Juan Soto possible for the Dodgers

We knew that Los Angeles had at least some interest in Soto as the offseason began. But this is much more than just due diligence: The Dodgers have a meeting with Soto and agent Scott Boras coming up on Tuesday, and it's hard to imagine Andrew Friedman and Co. putting in face time if they didn't feel like they had at least a puncher's chance to meet Soto's asking price and lure him back to the West Coast.

Just as significant as the Dodgers' aggression here, though, is the fact that they can afford to be aggressive at all. This team just handed out over a billion dollars in contracts last winter and had the fifth-highest payroll in the league in 2024; even allowing for Ohtani's record deferrals, that's a whole lot of money, which you'd think wouldn't allow for a second record-breaking contract just a year later. But according to at least one report, it seems like the Ohtani Effect is paying dividends for L.A. already.

It's tough to quantify just how much of an economic impact Ohtani has. But we know just how wildly popular he is in Japan: More people watched the first two games of this year's World Series in Japan (15.2 million on average) than in the United States (14.5 million). And a study conducted last year found that Ohtani had generated some $337 million USD in just the 2022 season alone. Which was before he won his second MVP award, and before he led one of the most recognizable sports brands in the world to its first full-season championship since 1988.

It's safe to say that Ohtani is worth even more now, and those numbers certainly suggest that the Dodgers will have plenty of money to play with in the years to come. Heck, that annual revenue number would pay for his salary plus Soto's salary, plus a ton of room left over. It remains to be seen whether L.A. appeals to Soto, and whether he's the best fit for a team that needs to keep its DH spot open for Ohtani. But one thing's for sure: Money won't be an object.