Dodgers Lead 2023 MLB Free Agency Spending at $717M; Phillies Second at $172M

The early transactions of this offseason's MLB free agency are officially in, and one team's expenses outweigh everyone else by quite the margin.

Jeff Passan of ESPN reported each team's free agent spending this far, and the Los Angeles Dodgers lead the pack with $717 million spent.

The Philadelphia Phillies hold down second place with $172 million while the Arizona Diamondbacks are third with $122 million spent. The Toronto Blue Jays, Chicago Cubs, Seattle Mariners, Miami Marlins, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Minnesota Twins and New York Yankees have all not spent on any free agents thus far, while the Boston Red Sox, Oakland Athletics and Tampa Bay Rays have all spent less than $2 million.

The bulk of the Dodgers expenses this offseason came with the signing of two-way superstar Shohei Ohtani, who signed a ten-year, $700 million deal with the team Dec. 9. Still, this doesn't take into account the team's trade acquisition of pitcher Tyler Glasnow, who was then signed to a five-year, $135 million contract extension following the trade.

In a similar vein, the New York Yankees acquired outfielder Juan Soto in early December, a move that does not count in this metric.

Numerous big fish remain on the market, including Japanese pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shota Imanaga and resurgent slugger Cody Bellinger.

While these availabilites could see some teams, notably the Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays and Cubs, shoot up this list, it's pretty safe to say that the Dodgers will retain the top spot throughout the offseason. The Dodgers also remain a contender for Yamamoto, whose price tag could mean the team exceeds $1 billion in spending this offseason.