Where do Dodgers stand after latest Juan Soto free agency update?

On Tuesday, Ken Rosenthal, Evan Drellich, and Brendan Kuty reported that the bidding for Juan Soto had officially reached $600 million (subscription required). This is unsurprising at this point; although most very early estimates for Soto's contract landed somewhere around the $500-550 million mark, (later revealed to be erroneous) rumors that the Mets offered $660 million in November made it seem like the ultimate price would be higher than originally thought.

Rosenthal, Drellich, and Kuty wrote that the Mets, Yankees, Red Sox, Blue Jays, and Dodgers were the five biggest teams "publicly known to be most serious about Soto," and probably the only teams who could afford to dole out that much money. They noted that Soto had started eliminating teams, but all of those still standing had offered over $600 million.

It caused a bit of confusion among Dodgers fans, some of whom interpreted that particular passage to mean that the Dodgers were among the teams to place a $600 million+ offer Soto was still considering. The Dodgers have been publicly interested in Soto — and given the amount of capital they have, it wouldn't surprising if they're still in the running — but there hasn't been any confirmation that LA is still a contender.

New Juan Soto free agency details create some confusion among Dodgers fans

It's impossible to say exactly how involved the Dodgers are with Soto. They just signed Blake Snell to a large contract, and although there were deferrals involved, and the Dodgers are relentless about they guys they really want, it's hard to see how they could make the stretch to get Soto and maybe even another top-shelf starter.

Sentiment around the Dodgers' level of aggression has also been mixed. Jeff Passan seemed firm on LA not being involved in his market, but later softened his stance to say the Dodgers would check in, but only really get involved if the market softened, which it clearly has not.

So there's no telling if LA is still one of those teams Soto is considering. We shouldn't have to wait too much longer for a decision; although Scott Boras said a decision isn't "imminent," it's also widely believed that Soto will choose by the end of Winter Meetings, which start this weekend in Dallas.

If the Dodgers actually pull this off, it'll make a lot of fans want to set the entire league on fire. If they don't, then fine. It opens up LA to have real talks with Teoscar Hernández, and LA won without Soto this past season anyway.