Dodgers Rumors: LA 'Capped' Juan Soto Contract Offer at $600M Before Mets' $765M Deal

The Los Angeles Dodgers put a firm ceiling on what they were prepared to give star slugger Juan Soto in free agency, according to The Athletic's Patrick Mooney, Will Sammon, Brendan Kuty and Ken Rosenthal.

The report said the Dodgers "capped their offer to Soto at $600 million."

That lines up with what Rosenthal first reported on Dec. 2. He said the World Series champions "are doing what they often do with elite free agents, hanging around the backboard, seeing if the ball somehow falls into their hands."

Soto wound up getting $765 million over 15 years from the New York Mets, per ESPN's Jeff Passan, which is the single biggest contract in sports history.

An important note on the deal is that it doesn't have any deferred money, which might have worked against Los Angeles. Deferrals are a strategy the Dodgers utilized with Shohei Ohtani last offseason and again with Blake Snell and Tommy Edman this winter.

As much as Soto would've helped L.A. offensively, the franchise has already shown it can win a World Series with the roster it has. Getting Snell also addressed one of the biggest holes in the roster as well.

Soto clearly would've been more of a luxury than a necessity, so topping the Mets' bid was been a questionable investment given the scale of the transaction.

The Dodgers will presumably turn their attention toward a reunion with Teoscar Hernández. Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reported Sunday the Boston Red Sox are continuing to chase the 32-year-old outfielder, but the Boston Globe's Pete Abraham added he "has told people he would prefer to stay with the Dodgers."

With Soto now off the board, the free agents from the lower tiers such as Hernández could secure their futures in short order.