3 MLB trades that would nearly equal the Luka Dončić-Lakers trade

In the wake of the biggest NBA trade in recent memory, let's try to find some MLB equivalents that would shake the landscape of the sport.
Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis.
Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers in a blockbuster trade for Anthony Davis. | Ron Jenkins/GettyImages
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Trade Two: Dodgers trade Shohei Ohtani, Mets trade Juan Soto

Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani at the 2021 T-Mobile Home Run Derby.
Juan Soto and Shohei Ohtani at the 2021 T-Mobile Home Run Derby. | Justin Edmonds/GettyImages

Unlike the slightly more understated Betts-Witt trade, I think the pendulum is swinging too far in the "Holy crap!" direction on this one.

These are the two biggest players in the sport. If Doncic was traded for LeBron James (or maybe someone a little closer to their prime, like Nikola Jokic), this would be our winner. Soto and Ohtani currently have contracts in excess of $1.45 billion when combined.

Ohtani won his third MVP in four seasons in 2024, posting 9.2 bWAR as a pure DH. When he returns to the mound in 2025, he may go on to produce the best season in baseball history.

Meanwhile, Soto is fresh off another brilliant performance himself, finishing third in AL MVP voting in 2024 while sharing the stage with Aaron Judge. Now a member of the crosstown New York Mets, he figures to be the face of his new franchise for the duration of his 15-year contract.

Part of what made the Doncic trade so unbeliveable is that the Lakers definitively won it. Though Ohtani is so singular that it'd be hard to consider the Mets a "loser" in this prospective trade, Soto is so good in his own right that this trade would do better in melting fans' brains rather than freezing them.

Likewise, the Dodgers just won the World Series. Doncic may have piloted his team to the NBA Finals last year, but they fell to the Boston Celtics. To really capture the essence of the NBA deal, we need to turn our attention to the team that just fell short.