The Los Angeles Dodgers, as rich as they already are, continue to get richer in terms of talent as they reportedly came to terms with Blake Snell on a five-year, $182 million deal to mark the first blockbuster signing of free agency. Snell only serves to elevate the Dodgers‘ injury-ravaged rotation, giving them a legitimate strikeout artist, who, on his day, can mow down entire opposing lineups.
The Dodgers have made it a habit to spend big every offseason, and they must receive greater credit for not being shy in utilizing their financial resources. However, given how many big contracts there are on the Dodgers’ books, one would think that even they have their limitations in terms of spending — which now calls into question how the signing of Snell would impact their potential pursuit of the best free agent on the market in Juan Soto.
According to Jon Heyman of the New York Post, the Dodgers “don’t appear to be out” on Soto even though they committed a huge deal to Snell. However, per Heyman, it’s “hard to see them as a favorite”, as he believes that “even this juggernaut of a team with a great business model and huge revenue has to have limits”.
But as long as Soto hasn’t yet put his signature on the dotted line for another team, the Dodgers must be considered in the mix for the 26-year-old right fielder. They have unlimited funds to bankroll their transactions and dominance over the entire MLB, and it is rare for someone as young and elite as Soto is to reach free agency. If there’s anyone to go broke for, it’s Soto, although time will tell if the Dodgers manage to be the highest bidder.
Dodgers address major starting pitching need
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Starting rotation depth is not something the Dodgers can take for granted, not after they lost a historic number of games from their starters due to injuries in 2024. They lost Tyler Glasnow and Gavin Stone to major injuries this past season, and there are no guarantees that Yoshinobu Yamamoto will have a clean bill of health in 2025. Moreover, it’s not quite clear how big of a pitching workload Shohei Ohtani can take on for next season.
The likes of Walker Buehler, Clayton Kershaw, and Jack Flaherty are also free agents, which meant that the Dodgers had some room to add a major piece like Blake Snell into their rotation.