Dodgers will enter Juan Soto sweepstakes thanks to Shohei Ohtanis contract

LOS ANGELES — The richest may get even richer.The Dodgers are halfway to beating the Yankees in the World Series, and word is they have interest in signing Yankees superstar Juan Soto, according to people familiar with their thinking.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.The Yankees and Mets are understandably viewed by folks around baseball as likely favorites to sign Soto, not only because they are very good teams in prime position financially to make a run at the free agent who’s expected to set a salary record, but because Soto is seen as enjoying his year in New York.

The juggernaut Dodgers can afford him, too, but the biggest question for them is: Would he go back west?Yankees people see the Mets (and maybe the Blue Jays) as the real threat in the Soto derby and don’t believe Soto wants to return to Southern California any more than Shohei Ohtani wanted to come to New York.As for Soto and the Dodgers, a Yankees person had two words: “Never happen.”The Yankees almost annually are believed to be baseball’s highest revenue team and the Mets have baseball’s richest single owner, Steve Cohen, but the Dodgers financial situation, already excellent, was exponentially enhanced upon Shohei Ohtani’s signing.

Dodgers baseball people often thank Ohtani for showing the flexibility to sign the $700M deal that is 97 percent deferred, which aids them well beyond his own unprecedented 50-50 productivity by allowing them to sign almost anyone.And truth be told, Dodgers bigs thank their lucky stars every day for the gift that will presumably keep on giving.Word is that since $68M of Ohtani’s $70M salary is deferred without interest, the cost to the Dodgers is closer to around $30M annually, even lower than the $43.7M players union estimate.

But the much bigger benefit is the enormous profit the Dodgers are making via sp...