San Francisco Giants Hated Rival to Meet With Top MLB Free Agency Prize

The San Francisco Giants' most hated rival could be making a play at the top player on the board in free agency.

Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The San Francisco Giants have just suffered through the pain of watching their biggest rival win their second World Series title in the last five years and lap them as the premier baseball brand on the west coast.

During the early 2010s, the Giants were the belle of the ball in the Golden State, winning two championships in three years from 2010-2012 while the Los Angeles Dodgers sat at home in the playoffs.

By the time San Francisco ended its run with another championship in 2014, the Dodgers were back to being a yearly fixture in the playoffs. But Los Angeles didn't get the job done until 2020 when it won the World Series.

Now, one year after beating out San Francisco in free agency for the signature of Shohei Ohtani, Los Angeles is on top of the baseball world once again while the Giants watched from afar.

This winter, San Francisco is once again linked to the top available free agent in Yankees superstar Juan Soto, but the Dodgers may be trying to sweep in once again.

Conflicting reports have raised questions about how in on Soto the Giants actually are, but according to MLB.com insider Mark Feinsand, Los Angeles has a meeting set up with the slugger.

"Having already met with the Blue Jays, Red Sox and Mets, Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, sat down with the Yankees on Monday at an undisclosed location near Boras’ offices in Newport Beach, Calif.," Feinsand wrote. "According to sources, the Dodgers will be the next team to sit down with Soto, holding their meeting with him early this week, possibly as soon as Tuesday."

Soto has always felt more likely to stay in New York, whether that be re-signing in the Bronx or going to the Mets, but San Francisco has been seen as a legitimate contender. If the Dodgers came in once again and swept Soto away, as they did with Ohtani despite nearly identical offers, it would almost be too much for Giants fans to bear.

Los Angeles' roster is currently the envy of the baseball world and adding Soto would make it a super-team. The anguish of losing out on the best free-agent in baseball once again to the Dodgers would keep both Giants fans and ownership up at night.