Juan Soto has had a chance to do plenty in his career. He won a World Series with the Washington Nationals, won the 2022 Home Run Derby, been an All-Star four times, and won a batting title. But he's never played with Shohei Ohtani, and if he had his way, that would change.
Speaking at the 2024 All-Star Game media festivities, Soto was asked which MLB player he would like the chance to play with.
Reporter: “Who is one player you’d like to play with that you haven’t had the chance to?” Juan Soto: “I mean, Shohei [Ohtani] would be one of the best.” 👀 (via @snyyankees)
“I mean, Ohtani would have been one of the best,” he said. “Now he went to the NL, I went to the AL so it’s been a little tricky but definitely Ohtani would be one of them.”
Soto's comment seems to refer to the chance to even play with Ohtani in an All-Star game, which he also has not had a chance to do. Until this year, Soto had spent his entire career in the National League and Ohtani in the American League. The two swapped leagues this year.
That hasn't slowed either down at the plate. Soto leads the American League in walks and finished the first half with a .295 batting average and 23 home runs. Ohtani, meanwhile, stands a decent chance at becoming the first player to ever win AL and NL MVP in consecutive seasons. He currently leads the National League in home runs (29), runs scored (75), OPS (1.036), and total bases (235).
Ohtani is also a two-way player, though he will not pitch in 2024 as he recovers from elbow surgery. When he has pitched, however, he's been great. In 86 career starts, all with the Los Angeles Angels, Ohtani has a 3.01 ERA with 608 strikeouts in 481.2 innings.
Soto and Ohtani — only displaying half his arsenal — have combined for 10.4 WAR, per Baseball Reference, in 188 total games.
Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani could possibly team up next year
It's a long-shot, but it's possible. Soto is a free agent after the season and the Yankees will make a real run to try and bring him back.
But these aren't George Steinbrenner's Yankees. There's a cap somewhere for what they are willing to spend, and if he hits the open market, the Dodgers could make sense. They'll have room in the outfield with Jason Heyward not hitting and an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year.
The Dodgers are already well over the luxury tax threshold with the second-highest payroll in baseball. They have some salary coming off the books, but not enough for most teams to justify throwing maybe $600 million at a single player. But most teams are not the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Ohtani, for his part, is pretty firmly locked into his position with the Dodgers. He signed a 10-year, $700 million contract with LA in the offseason which will pay him $2 million a year for the next 10 years and the rest of the money deferred through 2043. In other words, it's not a contract that is going to move any time soon.
So if Soto wants to play with Ohtani, it will have to be with the Dodgers — or, if he's ok with an annual All-Star one-off, he could virtually guarantee that by signing with any National League team.
