Phillies joining the Juan Soto sweepstakes

Just to get the formalities out of the way, Juan Soto officially declined the qualifying offer by Tuesday’s deadline. 

And after taking care of meetings with the Mets and Yankees, Soto was expected to add the Dodgers to his list and, as The Post’s Jon Heyman reported, the free-spending Phillies will also be in the mix. 

So if you’re keeping score, that makes at least six teams interested in the offseason’s top free agent, with the Blue Jays and Red Sox also involved in the Soto Sweepstakes. 

The Dodgers and the Phillies, combined with the Mets and Yankees, could set up an unprecedented bidding war among the big-market teams — especially between the Mets and Yankees. 

The last time a New York free agent hit the open market coming off a spectacular offensive season, Aaron Judge re-signed with the Yankees with a push mostly from the West Coast, with the Giants and Padres the biggest threats. 

Perhaps the Dodgers will just keep spending coming off a World Series victory or the Phillies will also throw caution to the wind and try to reunite Soto with former Nationals teammates Bryce Harper and Trea Turner.