Which Teams Could Legitimately Trade For Juan Soto if He Becomes Available?
Amidst their current rebuild, the Washington Nationals will be sellers at this season’s trade deadline and are likely to move a few pieces off their current roster, but outfielder Juan Soto won’t be among them, right?
It’s unlikely the team trades its franchise icon by August 2nd, although it’s not impossible. There’s a slight chance the front office would be open to the idea if they were blown away by an offer.
For now, however, Washington remains focused on attempting to extend Soto, who features two additional seasons of team control after this current campaign. Unless he receives a new deal, the 23-year-old is scheduled to hit free agency after the 2024 season.
It’s widely assumed that the two-time All-Star will sign elsewhere if he reaches the open market. There certainly won’t be a shortage of potential suitors. He’d instantly become the best player available and by a wide margin.
Despite their efforts, the Nationals have struggled in the past during contract negotiations with Soto, as he reportedly rejected a 13-year, $350-million extension before the lockout began, according to ESPN Deportes’ Enrique Rojas.
This created plenty of speculation earlier this season about whether the club would be forced to trade its superstar outfielder if contract talks didn’t proceed any further. But general manager Mike Rizzo spoke adamantly about that topic during a local radio interview on June 1.
Rizzo came out to set the record straight, saying “We are not trading Juan Soto,”.
“We have every intention of building this team around Juan Soto, and we’ve spoken to his agent many, many times,” Rizzo said. “We recently sat with him when he was in Washington, D.C., and made it clear to him that we’re not interested in trading him.”
Now, as we sit just over a month later, the question remains: can the Nationals insert the right pieces around Soto before he becomes eligible for free agency? Even if they do, will it be enough to convince him to stay?
Obviously, Washington’s front office has a massive decision to make regarding Soto’s future – one that could alter the direction of their organization for the next decade plus. They definitely can’t rush into such an important process.
But let’s say the team ultimately decides to trade Soto, what type of offer would he fetch in return? It certainly wouldn’t be cheap. As one of the faces of MLB, the left-handed slugger’s price tag would undoubtedly be set extremely high. And rightly so.
Soto hasn’t enjoyed a ground-breaking performance in 2022, at least by his standards. He’s currently hitting .248/.403/.493 with 19 home runs, 41 RBIs and a 151 wRC+ score across 380 plate appearances in 88 games.
But that’s not entirely his fault. It’s not like he’s surrounded by several fellow all-stars. Aside from teammates Josh Bell – who’s likely to be dealt soon – and Nelson Cruz, the Nats roster is currently devoid of high calibre talent.
If you’re an opposing pitcher, why wouldn’t you pitch around Soto? You already know he isn’t willing to extend the strike zone. So, of course you’re going to walk him to face a weaker hitter – it’s a no-brainer.
Still, despite Soto’s underwhelming results, he remains one of the best hitters on the planet. There isn’t a franchise out there that wouldn’t benefit from acquiring his services. Though, there aren’t many who could do so without gutting their entire prospect system.
One franchise that would be capable of paying top dollar – both in prospects and salary – are the New York Yankees. They already feature an elite pool of prospects, and if fellow outfielder Aaron Judge departs this off-season, Soto would surely be a suitable replacement.
The Yankees would probably need to part with some of their prized possessions, though. In all likelihood, any package would have to include shortstop Anthony Volpe, outfielder Jasson Domínguez, catcher Austin Wells and pitcher Ken Waldichuk.
Of course, this would be a massive haul for Soto as it’d cost New York its Nos. 1, 3, 4 and 5 top prospects, according to MLB Pipeline. But in order to entice Washington, all four prospects – and possibly more – would probably need to be moved.
In return, the Yankees would receive their everyday left fielder for the next 10-15 seasons. And as a lefty, the two-time Silver Slugger would surely crush boatloads of home runs over the short porch in right field at Yankee Stadium.
The San Francisco Giants are another franchise that could potentially acquire Soto. They’ve been searching for a reliable middle-of-the-order slugger for years, and the 6’2″ outfielder is exactly that.
Similar to the Yankees, however, the Giants would have to pay a premium before they could insert Soto into their lineup. Management would likely have to include shortstop Marco Luciano, outfielder Heliot Ramos along with pitchers Kyle Harrison and Will Bednar.
This hypothetical package would send the club’s Nos. 1, 2, 4 and 5 top prospects to Washington. A steep price to pay, for sure. But one that’d pay immediate dividends.
With Soto in Northern California, playing alongside Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford, Mike Yastrzemski and others, the Giants would be better equipped to compete with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in the loaded NL West Division.
Don’t be surprised if the reigning World Series champion Atlanta Braves factor into the Soto sweepstakes as well. Landing the left-handed slugger could put their offense over the top in the NL.
Unfortunately, the Braves would almost certainly have to send 2022 NL Rookie of the Year favourite outfielder Michael Harris II the other way. He’s a player that wouldn’t be easy to part with. Though, the Nationals would probably make the 21-year-old a priority in any trade discussions.
Additionally, Atlanta would also likely need to include pitchers Kyle Muller, Freddy Tarnok and shortstop Vaughn Grissom. Along with Harris, Washington would receive the organization’s Nos. 1, 4 and 6 top prospects. Such is the price for an inter-division deal in today’s MLB landscape however.
The Braves would be losing its highly-touted centre fielder, however, they’d be pairing Ronald Acuña Jr. with Soto, making them one of the best – if not the best – outfield tandems in baseball.
Whatever direction the Nationals decide to go, baseball fans will have an answer in the coming weeks one way or another.
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.