PHOENIX (AP) — The Los Angeles Dodgers spent big last offseason before getting a big win this offseason. Takes home the World Series championship after committing more than $1 billion Actors such as Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Teoscar Hernández.

Now it’s time to see which teams are in the mood to open their wallets to free agents in preparation for the 2025 season.

The Ohtani sweepstakes dominated last year’s offseason conversation until the Japanese superstar signed. Eye-popping 10-year deal worth $700 million last December. With apologies to Juan Soto, even if this year’s class is deeper, there may not be anyone getting paid that much in the coming months.

Top players seeking a new team include Soto, Willy Adames, Corbin Burnes, Max Fried, Blake Snell, Alex Bregman and Jack Flaherty. After that, there is another attractive tier of players who could provide great support to title-challenging teams, such as the aforementioned Hernández, Anthony Santander, Jurickson Profar, Ha-Seong Kim, Pete Alonso, Christian Walker and Sean Manaea.

MLB’s general managers will meet this week in San Antonio, Texas, for the unofficial kickoff of the offseason. These talks, held in early November, usually don’t make many moves, but they often lay the groundwork for future agreements.

Here are some things to watch when MLB free agency opens this week:

This lesson may be profound, but there is no doubt that Soto is the No. 1 prize. The four-time All-Star already has 201 career homers, has a career .421 on-base percentage and helped lead the New York Yankees to the World Series before losing in five games to the Dodgers.

Also, he is only 26 years old.

The Yankees want to keep Soto, who has teamed up with Aaron Judge to be a formidable duo for the Bronx Bombers. However, it is not yet clear how much team owner Hal Steinbrenner wants to spend on a player who can sign a contract worth around $500 million.

Soto didn’t reach out after New York Disappointing debut in Fall Classicbut he doesn’t seem willing to sign for a discount.

“I will be available for all 30 teams,” Soto said. “I don’t want to say anyone has any advantage because at the end of the day we’re going to look at what they have and how much they want me.”

One of the most interesting teams to watch in the coming months New York Mets?who overcame a slow start to advance all the way to the NL Championship Series before losing to the Dodgers.

Alonso has been a big part of the Mets’ lineup, hitting 226 homers over the last six seasons. Manaea, Luis Severino and José Quintana are also on the market as they are important parts of the pitching rotation.

Now the franchise must decide whether to keep them, rebuild them, or do a mix of both. There’s a lot of pressure on the team to improve, especially since the crosstown Yankees don’t look like they’ll stop winning anytime soon.

It will be fascinating to see what happens with veterans like Paul Goldschmidt, Walker Buehler, Shane Bieber and Carlos Santana. These are guys who have miles (and surgeries) on their bodies, but have been in the big leagues for a long time.

Goldschmidt, St. He was the 2022 NL MVP for the St. Louis Cardinals, but his offensive production has declined over the past few years. Still, he’s a first baseman who’s good in the clubhouse and keeps his body in great shape.

Buehler is back from his second Tommy John surgery this season. There have been many ups and downs, although his excellent performance in the World Series is reason to believe he has a lot left in him. He pitched six scoreless innings against the Yankees; this included a scoreless ninth inning to clinch the series in Game 5.

Baseball super manager Scott Boras has long been considered one of the best in the business, even though it was last year’s offseason. wasn’t among his best.

Many prospects, including Snell, Matt Chapman, Jordan Montgomery and Cody Bellinger, didn’t sign contracts until spring training, but they also didn’t land the high-dollar, long-term deals they were looking for. Instead, most signed short-term deals.

Boras will be a major factor again this summer, representing many of the key free agents like Soto, Burnes, Alonso, Snell and Bregman.

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AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum in New York contributed to this report.

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