The trade deadline is approaching in baseball. As playoff contending teams are prepared to make big, meaningful movies to give them a push towards a World Series title and non-contending teams look to sell off their best players in the hopes of rebuilding for the future, the stove is about to get hotter than ever. However, there is not one trade that is being discussed more right now than that of the young, energy-filled superstar for the Washington Nationals, Juan Soto.
Recently, it has been reported that Soto turned down a 15-year long contract extension for 440 million dollars by the Nationals. After trying to do everything in their power to extend their talent slugger in the hopes of building a contending team around him for the foreseeable future, the Nationals no longer feel that they will be able to extend Juan Soto long term and have made him opened to trade. Whether Soto turned this massive contract down because he felt he wasn’t being paid enough or just thinks the Nats won’t be a competitive team for the next decade plus is beyond me but no doubt this is a stunning development.
Juan Soto is no doubt one of the best players in baseball. He’s great with the bat with plenty of pop and contact, has one of the best eyes in baseball being able to take a ton of walks and always able to find a way to get on base, and has the cocky, show-off attitude that makes him the right player for this flashy age of baseball we are currently living in. Also, he’s only 23 years old!
He’s no doubt a future hall of famer at the moment but he has got a LONG way to go before we even consider having some sort of conversation about that. Even so, he’s already accomplished many things in baseball! He won a World Series in 2019, took home a batting champion crown in 2020, the Silver Slugger and All-Star game twice, and just came off on top at this year Home Run Derby! A team trading for him would be HUGE but no doubt it will come with a MASSIVE price.
According to head baseball writer/reporter, Ken Rosenthal, the Nationals are requesting at least four to five top young players in return, a combination of top prospects and major league players with brief experience on the major league levels to potentially land this all-star caliber player. This is a huge cost but you will be guarantee Juan Soto for at least three consecutive pennant races.
There is however one other feature that makes this trade more complicated. On top of trading away Juan Soto, the Nationals have also requested that teams also acquired starting pitcher Patrick Corbin as a side dish so they could get rid of all of his remaining salary on his contract. The problem here is that Corbin has been one of the absolute worst pitchers in baseball for the past three seasons. This year in particular, he has a dreadful record of 4-13 with a 6.02 ERA and has lead the National League in hits and earned runs given up. Like Soto, Corbin will become a free agent after the 2024 season with plenty of money being due. So not only will you be able to require one of the best hitters in recent memory but you will also have to require one of the worst pitchers in recent memory. This is where things get quite frustrating.
This really comes off as a cheap and manipulative move on the part of Nationals general manager, Mike Rizzo. Basically asking a team to cover up a big financial mistake he’s made along with asking for multiple top prospects and players for two and a half years with a superstar slugger with no guarantee that he will stick around after 2024. Sure, Corbin might be better on a different team with a different catcher, pitching coach, different defense, and a completely different ballpark but asking for the other team to pay for every single cent of an overpaid contract is criminal. It’s a crime without a doubt, but I still believe it’s a crime worth committing.
As much as teams are passionate about their top prospects in their farm system, there is never a guarantee they will turned out to be the next big star. There’s never a guarantee they will turn out to be the next Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols. Some do but most other folks don’t. Just go back and take a look at any of the MLB drafts of the past decade and tell me how many players selected in the first round ended up having impactful careers to this day. Not just talking about Mike Trout and Bryce Harper but every single one chosen from every team out there. You are likely to find more misses than hits there. Prospects are unproven but veteran players are absolutely proven. Especially the ones that come around like Juan Soto. The kind that is able to impact the game of baseball harder than ever before. The ones that is absolutely is worth trading for at ANY price imaginable!
Anyone familiar with James Ramsey or Brian Johnson?
There are many teams that have been discussed that are interested in a potential trade for Soto.. The key teams that have been most considered to be traded include the likes of the Mets, Yankees, Mariners, Rangers, Dodgers, Padres, and the Cardinals. Those are teams that have the talent to trade away as a means of acquiring Juan Soto for a potential postseason run. As much as there are plenty of advantages for each team to want to acquire him, there is at least one thing that could potentially hold them back of pulling the trigger.
The Mets are a divisional rival of the Nationals which might set them back from Washington’s sights. The Yankees don’t exactly have a top-tier farm at the moment and will probably be more focused on extending Aaron Judge. The Mariners and Rangers might not want to deplete their farm system this soon in the hopes that they can make future playoff spots in the upcoming years after being out of it for years now. The Dodgers already sacrificed a lot last year with the additions of Max Scherzer and Trea Turner and would probably rather just wait until Soto hits free agency to make the move on him. The Padres already have plenty of salary on the books with long-term contracts of Tatis, Machado, and Hosmer and may not want to go over the luxury tax. Lastly, the Cardinals are an organization that highly values their prospects and probably prefer to put greater focus on acquiring starting pitching to fill out that injury-plagued rotation.
As much as there is a strong chance that Nationals will trade Juan Soto in the next coming days, there is also likely as strong of a chance that he might not be dealt with until the offseason if no teams are willing to meet Mike Rizzo’s demands. In hindsight, that would be a big mistake on part of the Nationals as by then, the price will probably be less demanding and they won’t be able to get the players and prospects they want because they waited too long to trade him. However, when it comes to benefits from both sides of this equation, it is for the best that Soto is able to put on a new uniform by August 2nd.
(And that’s not even bringing up how the Nats were so grumpy over Soto’s rejection that they didn’t even offer him a ride to the Home Run Derby!)
A trade is always a big risk. Neither side knows how it will affect them in the future and whether or not it will benefit them in the long run. However, when you have an already proven winning player like Juan Soto involved with such a trade, then it is certainly worth it. There are very few players like Juan Soto right now that can be described as good and fun to watch as he is. He’s the type of player that not only can help a team out now but also in the long-term future. He is the type of player that any fan of any team will want to pay money to come watch play. He is the type of player that MLB needs to put a greater emphasis on around marketing for players as he fits right in. He is the type of player that is 100% worth trading for! Whoever ends up with Juan Soto, you will be in for quite a treat!
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