Juan Soto will be the top free agent in the upcoming class and is trending towards the largest contract in MLB history — assuming one counts the Shohei Ohtani deal based on its approximate $461MM net present value. There has never been much doubt that the 25-year-old superstar would test the market, even after Yankees owner Hal Steinbrenner left open the possibility of discussing a midseason extension last month.
Soto implied as much this evening in a conversation with Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Asked by Heyman whether he expected the Mets to be involved in the bidding, Soto replied “we will see. In the offseason we will figure it out. I’ll let [agent Scott Boras] do his thing. We’re going to see.” The three-time All-Star followed up by speaking glowingly of his time with the Yankees.
Steinbrenner’s comments aside, the Yankees presumably haven’t been all that optimistic about keeping Soto off the market. GM Brian Cashman said in February that the team fully anticipated Soto would test free agency (link via Bryan Hoch of MLB.com). The Yankees will certainly make a significant effort to keep him in the Bronx next winter.
Soto famously declined a 14-year, $440MM extension offer from the Nationals before Washington traded him in 2022. The Padres similarly expressed a desire to work out a long-term arrangement in the early portion of last offseason. That obviously didn’t materialize and he was traded again. There aren’t any publicly reported specifics on contract terms that either San Diego or the Yankees have floated. Heyman said last month (X link) that Soto had declined seven extension offers within the last five years. That has long made it seem like a foregone conclusion that he and his camp would take things to free agency.
He may well do so coming off the best season of his career. Soto hit his 19th home run of the season tonight and is on pace to top last year’s personal-high 35 longballs. He carried a .305/.431/.563 slash line into today’s game. That’d be the highest slugging percentage he’s posted in a 162-game schedule. It’d be the second-best on-base mark he has managed in a full season.
Because that’s the way Bora$$ wants it.
What kind of package could Yankees get? Trade him like Chapman and bring him back.
And just punt on the Pinstripers Postseason aspirations?
Gwynn – Sadly that’s how a certain group of baseball “fans” view the world these days.
Lose 7 of 10? Season is over, doesn’t matter if you have the 2nd-best record in the league.
They think the best way to deal with any type of adversity is to simply give up.
Thank God none of them will ever join the military.
Gwynn, and what difference will it make. They just blow it in the playoffs anyway.
So the Yankees traded for him from San Diego to get them to the trade deadline? They traded for him to bolster their chances at a championship. Clearly a team looking to add not subtract
Bb
Blah blah
The problem with people like Bob here, is that they are right despite themselves
I can say that every team this year will bl9w it and I’ll be right 29 times and wrong just once.
That takes no insight at all
If Bob has any actual insight they will tell us which team won’t blow it.
You’ll notice that they never do that.
Will Bob be the exception?
I doubt it
This comment is possibly the truest comment I have ever read on one of these threads!
You can have Chapman for him
Yeah give us Soto so we can’t pay him
If they have any hope at all of competing this year they need to keep Soto. If they trade him they are admitting defeat.
The only way Soto stays a Yankee after this season is if he really wants to be a Yankee. I do not see the Yanks offering the most money to him.
Anybody that throws Ohtani money at him is a sucker. They’re about the same offensively, but Ohtani is a top of the rotation pitcher that could probably earn 30 mill a year without his bat, and Soto is a mediocre right fielder…
After two Tommy John surgeries less than 5 years apart no one really knows what kind of a pitcher Ohtani will be, or for how much longer.
I complete agree. The right play is to keep Soto as long as the Yankees believe they will at least be a wild card. The likelihood of the Yankees not making the playoffs this year is probably less than 10%.
I also agree that the Yankees are unlikely to sign Soto. There was a time when I thought if Cole opted out then maybe they would pivot to Soto. Now I think Cole will stay a Yankee and Soto will leave after this season.
I still think Soto should “only” get around 11 years at $40 million per year, just about what the Nationals offered him and no more. He is having a good season, Now how it ends up, number of years or deferrals, I don’t know, none of us do, not even Juan and Scott. I just think that future DHs will not make enough to justify more. Soto is very young, but I think he will be a DH in a few years Look how cheap JD Martinez was this year. JD is no Juan, but unless the Yankees are prepared to be mega-spenders, I just don’t see it.
The Nationals offer would have bought out his arbitration years, which was at least an additional 54 million dollars.
There is no way the Yankees don’t offer him the most money. They wouldn’t traded for him and they didn’t plan on paying him and it costs a lot to live in NYC. They are paying up just like h th he did for Judge.
Only a fool would turn down 440 mil. Take the money and run.
@Mets6986?? So because they traded for him they HAVE to overpay him no matter what? Is that what you are saying?
JS Signs with the yankees. 12 yrs period.
And tell that a fool said that!
Yes they knew they what they were getting into when they traded for him. They know the cost.
Mets86: I agree with your assessment that they fully intend on signing Soto. But, I disagree that they will offer the most money. I believe they will give him an excellent, high-value offer; but sources inside the Yankees have already reportedly said there is a limit to what they will offer him.
I see Cohen offering him the most.
The Mets probably won’t even be in on him. They traded for corner outfield prospects in the Scherzer/ Verlander deals and paid a lot of money for them. They should be ready by next year.
Comprehensive medical records and professional research into a billion dollar investment probably gives them some level of confidence. Though we can be relatively certain that it’s unlikely Soto will suddenly develop increased sprinting speed and a better arm as he gets older.
err, half billion dollars*
Nothing.
Why would they trade for him at the beginning of the season, have a great first half and trade him at the trade deadline? You didn’t do very well in school did you?
a LOT less than they gave up for him
Your talking apples and oranges with Soto and Chapman. The Yankees got Chapman for next to nothing,he was just coming off that domestic violence episode. Juan Soto cost the Yankees a lot of prospect capital,so if the Yankees were to hypothetically trade Soto your only getting a half season of him so the return is going to be a lot less then what they gave up to get him. Which from the baseball perspective makes no sense. Then you have Yankee fans who I think would start a lynch mob to get Brian Cashman if he decided to trade Juan Soto this season. The Yankees traded Chapman and Andrew Miller when they were out of contention. They are in first place with a devastating one two punch in Soto and Judge. Why even consider trading him?
Screw the Yankees
There’s a reason Sotos not a Dodger. He’s a perfect Yankee though. Boras Soto Yankees Are the perfect combination of toxicity and gaslighting individuals
The trio sound like “most” Dodger fans.
“Reason Sotos not a Dodger”…The main reason “Soto’s not a Dodger” is because the Dodgers coveted Ohtani and weren’t really interested in Soto and made no attempt to acquire him. Soto’s market could end up being only 1-3 teams and Scott Boras will need to be at his best to get a bidding war started in his particular price range.
Who says the Dodgers aren’t interested? There’s plenty of $ coming off the books, Teo 23 mil, Hayward 9, Buehler 8, Kelly 8, Paxton 7. I see no reason why Soto won’t be a Dodger next season.
My unfiltered opinion: he’s a selfish cancerous lockeroom POS. Similar to Yasiel Puig. Just too much to handle. Like the neighborhood hood mouse. You know she’s good but she’s trouble long term
That’s not true.
I was sorry to see Soto leave the Nats, but the Nats organization and fans still hold him in high regard.
He had a well-earned reputation in Washington as a good teammate, as well as a great player.
“That’s not true guy” go make your woman a sandwich!!!
Dodgers need to move Mookie back to the outfield when he’s healthy, and get a shortstop!
Shadow
Should have filtered that
Adios
What the hell
64 Yanks
Yes, this, two new middle infielders
Hyeseong Kim (in South Korea, not the Padres player) for 2B and Willy Adames (with Brewers) for shortstop will both be available in the off-season.
Then move Mookie to RF, Pages stays in center.
My filihok senses are tingling
Soto will be in Philly . Juan loves the team plane.
Soto in Philly I could see happening. Schwarber and Realmuto will be in the last year of their deals making a combined 43.5m. Castellanos and Walker have 2 more years. Best friend is Trea Turner, rakes in the NL East.
Andrew Friedman. When was the last time he signed a Boras client?
The philles need a right handed power bat in this line up,as opposing managers have smartened up and are stacking left handed pitching against them in every series. The bullpen is unstable . Is Hoffman the closer or not. Atlanta is not dead.
Based on absolutely zero information? Other than he destroyed your team in some series and he’s a minority just like Puig so you decided he’s a “selfish cancerous lockeroom POS”?
I can’t imagine why you’re shadow banned. I wish you were light banned too. Anyone that reads your words loses brain cells. And hope for mankind.
No it’s because the Padres offered more the first time and they weren’t dealing with the Dodgers the second time.
That’s true without the Dodgers, Soto’s market unless he makes a ton of deferrals is going to be limited to New York and probably San Fran with the hopes the maybe Boston,The Cubs or Toronto gets involved. Even if Soto does want to do the deferral thing will the union even allow that again? I’m sure they weren’t happy about Othani doing that. Plus I don’t see Boras signing off on that unless there is crazy interest on those deferrals. But excellent point about LA.
The bigger reason Soto isn’t a Dodger right now is Preller probably didn’t want to get fired…
How would he get fired for trading a rental to a division rival for some of their best prospects with them having zero hope of extending him?
The Yankees have to sign him because if they somehow fail to and he just becomes a one year wonder and signs big with the crosstown Mets then the Yankees fan base would be so unbelievably angry that would affect revenue
Insane projecting here
I fully expect that to be the outcome. Cohen was taking a step back this year, but he’s likely to spend again this winter. I imagine he would love to ‘steal’ Soto from the Yanks.
Given the Yanks tax issues, The Mets should be able to outbid them, and my guess is Soto goes to the highest bidder.
Who knows, maybe he might really love the pinstripes enough to leave money on the table, but I doubt it.
He’s definitely not leaving 50 million on the table
Whomever gets him, I don’t see an overpay here. There’s enough post season experience from him that shows, to me, superstar status. IE comfortable hitting in the big moments. I see that in Harper as well. Judge, to me, has a lot to prove. Ohtani? Who knows. He hasn’t even sniffed the playoffs. This year, barring a complete LAD collapse, he’ll get his chance to produce post season.
CYJ
“There’s enough post season experience from him that shows, to me, superstar status. IE comfortable hitting in the big moments. ”
Please provide your evidence that this matters. Thank you
CBeisbol; sure thing.
I clicked on his name in the above article. It took me to his profile on the Baseball Reference website. I scrolled down to his post season stats link. Did the same with Harper and Judge.
But also, from this very amateur GMs observations, watching him bat in post season play is just as revealing as his stats. The dude wants the bat in his hands in the biggest moments. Harper too. Judge, IMO, gets tight. Looks uncomfortable.
CYJ
So…as everyone (except you) knew. Absolutely no evidence. Thanks for making that exceptionally evident
CB. Young fella. Grateful for this site and the insight it provides including links to other sites.
Other posters like yourself rib me pretty good about my, ITO, lack of player performance knowledge based on analytics. Fair enough. I’m definitely a work in progress here. A question to you. Do u have a go to analytics site or 2 to recommend?
Bottom line. Stats r ok, but actually watching the game to figure out player performance, whether in person or through media, I value more than looking at stats. Love watching guys like Harper and Soto bat. Regardless of game importance, they’re up they’re up there at the plate getting their hacks in.
And a heads up. In regards to your last post, to me, it touches on troll status (or maybe you started hitting the bud light a little early today cutie? LOL). Best wishes. Cheers!
CYJ
So, first, I don’t drink and I have no idea if you’d find me cute or not.
Beyond that, assuming that you’re at least half-way serious,
The first thing to do is go back to like middle or high-school level information about the scientific method and supporting your assertions. That may sound like an insult, it’s not. Knowing what is good (and bad) evidence for something is important – especially in things more important than baseball.
What you’ve probably done is either
1) think about something and decided that since it makes sense, it must be true
2) just listened to somewhat else told you and assumed that it was true
Those aren’t great ways to know what is true.
Certainly not as great as looking at it in an objective way.
Have you actually looked at it in an objective way? Have you, say, looked at players that you think get their hacks in, and seen if they performed better in big moments than players who don’t?
If your belief is that post season experience matters, would it makes sense that players struggle their first few games, or series, in the playoffs and get better as they gain experience. Have you seen if that was true?
“actually watching the game”
All science starts with observation. Despite what a bunch of blowhards would have you believe, people who use stats also watch baseball. Do you think people who think batting average (which counts a home run the same as a single) is a worse measure of batting than wOBA (which counts a home run as more than a single) don’t watch baseball?
But, let’s be real, just watching baseball isn’t enough. There’s a reason that people started counting home runs, RBI, strikeouts, etc and figuring out batting averages, earned runs averages, FIP, wOBA, etc. One, you can’t watch everything. You’re not watching every Soto, Judge or Harper plate appearance. That stats do – and every plate appearance by every other batter too. Stats have vastly more information than anyone.
Then, there’s bias.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cognitive_biases
EVERYONE has bias. Anyone who claims that they don’t, well, they are the most susceptible to it.
One that I’d specifically like to name here is Anchoring Bias.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anchoring_effect
When we first form an opinion about something, it’s hard for us to change that. If we see a player for the first time and they do something impressive, that leaves an impression and it’s hard for us to not be anchored to that impression.
I could say a million more things, but someone just brought me cake and I’m going to eat that.
If you have any good-faith questions, I’d be glad to answer those.
FanGraphs, especially the library
library.fangraphs.com/
would be my recommendation for baseball reading
Cheers
Thanks for the feedback CB. Appreciated. Cheers!
Hope he likes being booed in Queens for the next 15 years
Hope you enjoy rooting against him you lame
Go pinch a couple nickels together punk
1. He isn’t worth more than 200 million. Older than his stated age. Bad defense, doesn’t have enough power.
2. Nobody is worth more than a million when there are so many starving in America
LS
“Nobody is worth more than a million when there are so many starving in America”
Walk me through this Steve. How should (in this specific instance) player salaries be restricted so no player makes more than one million dollars?
You had me till number two
Don’t mind him he’s obviously off his meds again
Yes, because those starving people won’t need food when they know MLB owners are pocketing so much extra money.
Russell
Put differently, MLB is a government permitted monopoly. If player salaries are going to be limited to $1 million per year, then owner profits should be limited like public utilities.
The system is highly imperfect, but I’ll pass on the changes and leave the system the way that it is.
Steve if you’re trying to do some kind of bit here where you parody the worst kind of smug, bougie internet liberal you’re doing a heckuva job.
Do you have any kind of credible reason to say soto is older than his stated age or are you one of those guys who drools out that stereotyped dogwhistle take about any Latino player you don’t like?
And if you had any kind of legit analysis of the situation in this country you’d know that pro athlete’s salaries are not at all a significant factor to our problems with poverty and food insecurity. But hey.at least you got to pat yourself on the back for a second.
There is a compromoise where there are not limits on owners and players profits and salaries, but do to the monopoly status, the government taxes the profits and salaries at a slightly higher rate and reallocates the money to those in need. I am not advocating for this, but it is not impossible to do. It does irk me though when teams pit cities against one another to get thm to use taxpayer money for sports arenas. The government should use the monopoly status to deter that. Otherwise, I am for the free market system.
Yet you have time to waste on here instead of feeding all of those starving people in America.
Going to the Tigers.
“Walk me through this Steve”…Don’t actually try to make sense of anything “Liberal Steve” says, because he’s one of those socialist wingnuts who believes there’s a correlation between sports player salaries and world homelessness and hunger. In another one of his brilliant “ideas”, he also believes that the way to reduce crime is to “Defund Police”.
MLB
“believes there’s a correlation between sports player salaries and world homelessness and hunger. ”
I mean, there almost certainly is
“he also believes that the way to reduce crime is to “Defund Police”.”
Also probably true
What happened to your other screenames, communist friend?
Steve
Are you going to respond to this
“Walk me through this Steve. How should (in this specific instance) player salaries be restricted so no player makes more than one million dollars?”
Or are you just a troll we should all bid adios to?
Has to be either another Samuel/filihok burner or another Pads Fans/outininleftfield/websoulsurfer/BaseballisLife burner.
Change name to socialist Steve then he can be SS
Soto & boras have been waiting yrs for this
Rejected nats, essentially forcing trade to SD
My guess is 600/14
Yanks should be favorites but who knows
LAD are a cash factory. $ grows on trees planted outside dodger stadium. I doubt cohen can lure him to queens. But He’ll go to the highest bidder. Will have nothing to do w winning. If the diablo de los rojos gives him a billion $ he’s packing his bags for mexico city
If he wants too much the yanks should let him go
I don’t like to root for greedy terds
Like Cole and Judge?
Like MLB team owners?
Considering how bad hitting has been this year and Soto has been just pure awesome I don’t see how he doesn’t end up well north of $40 million a year. They may go the Ohtani route because New York taxes are almost as bad as California. This is why the contract is so back loaded. California can’t to tax the crap out of it because Ohtani won’t be living in California and out of baseball by the time the bulk of that contract hits.
NY taxes are higher than California. Plus NYC has its own income tax. Canada and Ontario province is even higher.
But no player is choosing where to play based on state income tax. They pay taxes in the state where the games are played, home or away. No matter what team he signs with he will pay taxes in both NY and California.
It makes a difference with the Dodgers. 81 games at home, plus the Padres, Giants, and annual freeway series with the Angels means they’re over 100+ of their games in CA, even with the reduced intra-division schedule. The Yankees play 84 games a year in NY.
No baseball player makes a decision on where to play based on taxes.
Even the Dodgers have to stop spending at some point. It will be interesting to see which teams will join the bidding for Soto. I see the Mets and Giants for sure. The other big market teams may or may not be serious bidders.
Blue Jays too.
I think he stays with the Yankees, but I do think the Mets will pursue Soto hard. Uncle Steve stayed pat this offseason, only making a concerted effort for Yamamoto, but he’s chasing Soto. I think Soto will ultimately stay because he enjoys the Yankees clubhouse and wants to stay a Yankee. Just my two cents.
I don’t think the Mets are going after him at all. They traded away Scherzer and Verlander and tens of millions of dollars for corner outfielders that will be ready next year.
Disagree. They traded them because it was dead money and they needed to rebuild the farm after Brodie traded away their prospects. If they sign Soto, they either keep them as insurance policies, move them to a new position or they trade those prospects for other needs like pitching.
Because he enjoys the short porch in RF in Yankee Stadium and the bright lights of the big Apple. It’s the biggest stage in the US and Soto wants to be on that stage.
He’s doing exactly what he’s supposed to: focusing on this year. He’ll sign either the longest deal or the highest annual average salary this offseason. Yankees can offer both. So can many teams. That’s what should make the MLB offseason interesting. All these comments about what he should do, or how much he’s worth, are useless.
I totally agree this is no surprise That he will explore free agency. Honestly what else can he say when he Is asked about his future. It’s plain and simple if he wants to be A Yankee he will be a Yankee.
Why did Soto play so poorly for the Pads? The easiest answer is that they weren’t his boyhood idols. Soto is where he wants to be but he’d better up his game if he wants to stay there. He’s been looking rough lately.
He mentioned that getting traded from the Nats and them leaking their contract offer effected him. He knew that SD was always going to be a pit stop since they couldn’t afford to sign him. His parents who lived in D.R. couldn’t visit him as often either. The kid was 24 so I can understand how those things can factor into it.
Padres made him a half billion offer, so they could afford him. He wants to be the center of attention in the baseball world and he can’t be that playing on the west coast.
His 156 OPS+ for the Padres last season was incredibly good. That is why they got so much in return for one year of him.
@BaseballisLife Based on my observation of him, Soto is a pretty low-key superstar. Ohtani and Yamamoto signed with the Dodgers so I don’t know what that says.
Do you have a source for the Padres’ offer to Soto?
Multiple articles including on here that said they offered him more than the Nationals. In interviews prior to Ohtani signing he said that he felt that if he continued to play at that level that he deserved the same money per season that players like Verlander were making. He’s 25 so a 14-15 year deal is a certainty. I multiplied $43 million by 14 years. The Padres offer was likely just south of that. Speculation is that they offered 15 years at $36 million AAV and it wasn’t enough.
Nothing about him is low-key. The Soto shuffle.
NYC is the largest TV market in the US. It’s not even close. Half the nation doesn’t miss your games when you play in NY. If you play on west coast the eastern seaboard is going to need when most of your games are just getting started.
It took $700 million to get Ohtani to sign in LA.
He didn’t play “so poorly” for the Padres, just below his insanely lofty standards.
Did he play so well for the Nationals because they were his boyhood idols?
In tennis parlance, that was a lob. Take a minute and answer your own question about Soto’s time with the Nats.
Exactly. If I’m not mistaken, they were able to acquire Gleyber and a few other guy’s when they traded Chapman to the Cubs
Come on Yanks make Soto the first $billion$ ball player!
Fire Farhan, hire Jeter, sign Soto, sign Kim, win the World Series, F#€$ LA
You started to lose me towards the end but made up for it with a strong finish! F#€$ LA is right. >mug tap<
Because Jeter did so well with the Fish?
Really, the only part that I agree with was “Fire Farhan”. I think they need a change even though Farhan is not the worst in the league. G-men have some great prospects Ramos, Matos, Wisely, Harrison. But the spending on Lee, Conforto, Snell and Chapman doesn’t impress me.
Nothing of note here. Soto has been heading toward free agency with Boras since he arrived in the majors. They will use the market to get the highest price from his preferred team, which likely remains the Yankees.
Juan $billion$ Soto
The Yankee need to dump salary?
The one thing missing in the equation of who could sign Soto is deferrals. All joking aside, like it or not MLB opened that Pandora’s Box and almost has to allow every team (not just the Dodgers) to make that an option thus opening the market up to anyone interested in making a huge splash now while leaving a future owner on the hook for it later.
Rsox – With deferred payments, deposits still need to be made each year to an escrow account and the annual CBT hit is no different than if it was zero deferrals.
You may be mixing up deferrals with backloaded contracts like Stanton’s which is a whole different animal.
Rsox
“leaving a future owner on the hook for it later.”
Deferred money that is to be paid 10 years or more into the future, has to be set aside now.
The Dodgers will put $44 million a year into an interest gaining account to pay off Ohtani starting in 2034.
The current ownership will be paying Ohtani no matter who owns the team in 2034 through 2043
Soto is as overrated as Harper, maybe more so. I don’t get the “generational talent” moniker, either. Judge is the better player all-around and Soto doesn’t deserve to make what Judge makes annually.
I truly hope Cohen “steals” him away from the Yankees. Giving this guy a 12+ yr contract is financial suicide. Boras can put together a 400 page binder on Soto, I still wouldn’t give him the surely ridiculous contract he has in mind.
What makes Harper overrated?
Steve – Depends on how you look at him.
He was on the cover of SI at 16 when he was called the Next Babe Ruth, the hype was massive.
15 years later, he’s finished Top Ten in MVP only twice.
Still a great career, but hasn’t lived up to the hype.
He’s underrated with his contract now.
Soto is 25 y.o. (career 159 OPS+) and 7 years younger than Judge (167 OPS+). Without the wear-and-tear on his body, Soto has his best years ahead of him for presumably much longer than Judge. Soto’s defense has also improved this season. He will definitely be making more in AAV than Judge.
Harper gives you wet dream’s
Soto to the Dodgers all money deferred over 100 years. Interpreter assigned to him so he can gamble too.
MFF
Adios
Soto is 25 years old! Amazing
That bidding will be over 600 millions
440 million wasn’t enough???? Plus the endorsements you will receive?????…..
It’s smart of him to wait until after the election. If Trump gets re-elected then he’s going to demand more money to offset additional Trumpflation.
Twins right fielder Max Keplers contract is up this year. Twins can just replace him by signing Soto. Easy:)
Let’s go uncle STEVE!!!!!!
Prediction: After missing out on Carlos Correa and Aaron Judge, the Giants sign Juan Soto
Yankees’ consolation prize will be Pete Alonso to take over for Rizzo.
The first sentence is possible but I don’t can’t see the Yankees signing Alonso with Stanton on the roster. They can get by with Ben Rice and a possible platoon at 1B.
It just seems like a Yankees move. In that it’s a big bat and they have money to spare. Eliminating teams based on positional need (Bravos have Olson, Dodgers have Freeman etc) and spending habits (Pittsburgh, Nationals not likely to make a splash) we’re down to Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Cubs. Maaaaybe Baltimore if they feel he’ll be the final piece of a championship roster.
I doubt the Orioles will get into the mix. They should be allocating funds for either Henderson and/or Rutschman.
He gone. It went from “let’s get a deal done” to “we’ll talk in the offseason”
Soto has realized what the Yankees are all about and wants out.
Soto is a great hitter, but falls short on defense and his throwing arm.
The Padres showed very poor long term, strategic and financial planning in acquiring Soto from the Nats and I and many others stated this at the time of trade of Soto from the Nats to the Padres
Baseball is a team game and requires qualitative, above average, team effort by all the players on the roster.
Once Soto, rejected a 440M long term extension with the Nats, the smart poker players in smaller and medium sized MLB markets backed away from that free agent table..
But, AJ Preller “doubled down” sending the solid core of future, young star players to the Nats for a short term 1 1/2 year rental player in Soto?! Soto was, obviously, a better fit in NY or some other big Market or just staying in DC.
The players AJ Preller jettisoned from the Padres farm system are the players that they needed to take their next step in long term contending for NL West Division Titles, NL Pennants and World Series Titles:
: SS CJ Abrams, top rated young OF James Wood who is tearing up AAA with his bat, LHSP MacKenzie Gore who is now the Nats #1 starter. and others still toiling in the minors (Robert Hassell III who is coming back strong from injuries aged 22 and Jarlin Susana aged 20 just getting going in A ball).
The Padres need a steady yearly pipeline of young, top rated talent from their farm system to the major league team to compete aggressively with the Dodgers. The Padres cannot and will not outspend the Dodgers.
The money the Padres would have saved by passing on the Soto trade with the Nats added to passing on signing Xander Baergarts (25M X 10 years?!) ,because CJ Abrams would have become their new SS, and subtract Soto’s 30M salary would have helped the Padres resign some of their own pitching. Seth Luso is 10-2 with KC with a 2.29 ERA and maybe Closer Josh Hader or another closer and another starter like Jack Flaherty (15M per year with Tigers) etc.
Instead the Padres lack of long-term, financial, strategic planning has them digging new holes in other parts of their team and patching it with overpaying for free agents, which in turn handcuffs the Padres from making other moves to fill glaring holes elsewhere on their team?!
Again I have said this before: AJ Preller is ONE OF THE BEST AT FINDING AND SIGNING GREAT YOUNG TALENT AND STOCKING THE PADRES FARM.
Now, work harder at developing, promoting and playing all the great, young talent you find and you will end up with a team as talented as the Orioles and a few others.
backed away from that Trading Table.
If in 5 years he needs to be a DH, is a 150 OPS+ worth $50m per year as a DH? Maybe.
The Yankees and other teams offering a record breaking contract to Soto better hope that Soto is not Giancarlo Stanton 2.0 who developed a pattern of injuries and stints on the IL after signing his big deals.
Soto’s next contract could be an anchor on his future team worse than the Giancarlo Stanton deal has been for the Yankees.
Stanton can hit, when he is healthy, but he has missed a ton of playing time due to injuries.
If it’s possible to look bewildered and arrogant at the same time, that’s the picture Soto presents when he makes a half-hearted attempt to field a fly and misses.
Back to the Nats, make it happen!!
Trade him!
Trade him, for pitching. Compete next year. Just wait for Jasson and Spencer. Find a good young 3b