Padres in serious discussions for Nationals’ Juan Soto
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The San Diego Padres can easily afford the price tag for outfielder Juan Soto who the Washington Nationals may trade. The Padres are blessed with young talent and several relevant prospects. But can the two sides come to an agreement?
In recent weeks, the Washington Nationals have changed their stance regarding potentially trading Juan Soto.
After shooting down most rumors of a trade, recent news indicates the Nationals are listening to offers with serious intent on dealing their young outfielder. The Nationals reportedly offered a 15-year deal to Soto in the neighborhood of $440 million. He rejected the offer, and Washington will now explore moving him in the next few weeks before the August 2 MLB trade deadline.
There is no doubt the San Diego Padres are interested in Soto. A.J. Preller saught the Dominican outfielder when he was an international free agent. The Padres missed out on the opportunity to sign Soto, but there may be a chance the team can acquire the young slugger now.
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What would it cost San Diego to acquire one of the best young players in the game of baseball?
The price tag would surely start with names like MacKenzie Gore and C.J. Abrams. The Padres would be lucky to keep either play in a mega-del with the Nationals. Both are likely in discussions. Washington will also require young talent like Robert Hassell, Luis Campusano, and Ryan Weathers. The Nationals will surely desire players who are major league ready or close to it. Of the five mentioned above, only Hassell is a year or so away from major league service time, though you could make an argument that the left-handed hitting outfielder is ready now.
A package of Abrams, Gore, Hassell, Campusano, and Weathers is massive, but you get a sense that Washington will require more to deal its young superstar. This is where things get complicated. The Nationals would love to get out of the contract of two pitchers. Stephen Strasburg ($158 million and 4-plus years) and Patrick Corbin ($70-plus million for 3-plus years) are crippling the financials of the team.
The Padres taking on this kind of salary seems far-fetched at this point. Instead, the Padres will need to sweeten the deal with more players headed to Washington. The Padres have plenty of young lottery ticket-type players. Jarlin Susana throws triple-digits, and Samual Zavala is blessed with Soto-like skills on the baseball field. They both make sense. As does James Wood, the mammoth outfielder with ridiculous power from the left side of the plate.
The Padres could easily pay the price tag and essentially use nobody of current value from their 40-man roster.
Is Juan Soto a good fit?
The obvious answer is yes. He is the left-handed hitter the Padres desperately need to bat in between Macahdo and Tatis. To have this trio for another 6-plus years would immediately give the Padres a potent offense. Arguably one of the best in the game.
Juan Soto likes the Padres and seems very interested in playing in San Diego. He spoke to Darnay Tripp on Monday in LA in preparing for the MLB All-Star game.
Juan Soto on the Padres:
“Those guys they are pretty nice. They have really good talent. Really big fan of Tatis – how he plays the game – and Machado, and all those guys.”
Ya know, FWIW…
— Darnay Tripp (@DarnayTripp) July 18, 2022
There is a desire from the 23-year-old outfield to become a Padre, but who doesn’t want to play for the franchise as it is an exciting time in San Diego. The Padres could pay the prospect haul, but would it be a wise decision in the long run for this team? Only time will tell.
Buster Olney of ESPN indicates that the Padres are the front-runner. A.J. Preller is not shy about trading, and the two sides are surely in discussions.
Buster Olney has the #Padres as his #1 front runner for Juan Soto.
https://t.co/fzTXTU9qYb— Matt Skraby (@MattSkraby) July 18, 2022
The Padres could shock the world in the coming days and weeks. It feels like the team is willing to make a major move. The 2022 Padres are playing well in spurts. Fernando Tatis Jr. is a few weeks from returning, and there is depth in the pitching staff to be relevant come playoff time.
Preller and his staff will make moves. The only question is, how big will they be?
Some argue the Padres prospects are presently at the pinnacle of their value. Abrams, Campusano, and Gore will never have more uncertain value than now. These men could become hall-of-fame players, or they could be out of the game in a matter of years. That is just how brutal the game of baseball is to young players.
Preller and the Padres have a chance to add a top-10 player in the game without crippling the 40-man roster. You get a sense that these two sides will come to an agreement. If Juan Soto is dealt before the August 2 deadline, the Padres will have a say in where he goes. No other team can pay the unique price tag like San Diego.
James was born and raised in America’s Finest City. He is a passionate baseball fan with even more passion towards his hometown Padres. Editor-In-Chief of EastVillageTimes.com. Always striving to bring you the highest quality in San Diego Sports News. Original content, with original ideas, that’s our motto. Enjoy.
By the way, you seem to state or imply that the Padres would have Soto for 6+ years: “To have this trio for another 6-plus years would immediately give the Padres a potent offense.” It would be for TWO+ years. Also, they would do serious damage to the 40 man roster (at least with Gore, Abrams, etc). Lastly, the team will be desperate for pitching after this year, and will have next to nothing a year after that. So to move all their valuable pieces in this deal would cripple them in adding pitching next year.
Exactly. We’re not getting a “professional” opinion here, so don’t sweat it too hard. There is no way that, even Preller, would give up all the names this guy threw out. If they trade Susana, I’m gonna flip my lid.
No, no, no, a millions times NO. In order to save the Padres, somebody needs to hide AJ in sealed room, with no communication devices, for the next month or so.
The master of selling low, and buying high, mixed with bidding against himself, Prefer will get absolutely destroyed in any deal here.
There are multiple ways to measure this, but if weighed by WAR, given the players mentioned in the article, this giving up 10x what they would receive in one player. The years of control, the wide range of positions, the key positions involved (SS; C), this will be another nightmare for years to come.
Nooooooo!!! Perhaps with another GM in charge, but Preller will get killed in any deal. This would decimate the Padres for at least 5 years.
Some points to consider.
1) In the rush to consider a trade for a great hitter, it is forgotten that Soto, age 23, is already bad in the field and on the basepaths. It will only get worse as he ages. This is not another Ted Williams, the more apt comparison is Frank Thomas or Jim Thome. Great hitters, who were mostly unplayable in the field while still in their 20’s. Any team that acquires him, and extends him, will need to move him to 1B or DH within the next 5 years.
2) The likely AAV to sign Soto will approach $45m. This will cause the Padres ownership to sign off on $250m-$275m payrolls well into the future. Which in turn could limit future in-season deal making ability. Are they okay with that?
3) There does exist an opening to clean up the roster in such a deal. The Nationals are said to be thinking about making Soto and Corbin a package deal. If so the Padres could include Snell, Myers and Hosmer in such a deal. This would allow the Padres to actually lower their CBA payroll by about $2m this year and reset their penalties. Also, having one bad player is better than 3, and Corbin might be salvageable. For the Nationals it would allow them to rid themselves of Corbin, Myers is gone after the season, they could flip Snell, and even Hosmer, since his AAV will decrease to $14m when he changes teams. Alternatively the Padres could try to flip Myers and Snell themselves and just make the secondary part of the deal Hosmer for Corbin.
Everything was fine until you threw in the Hosmer, Snell, Myers ideas. No-we do not want z Corbin for that type of money. What would’ve off the books at the end of next year would be doubled with Corbin. Do the math. And if Hosmer was trade-able, he would be gone already.
Don’t play down Soto’s game….I would gladly put him at 1b in 5 years if it kept him in the lineup. Speaking of him like he’s not an insanely talented player is ridiculous. Just not worth what is being mentioned in this article….but the writer way over-extended his knowledge on what it would take.
You need to pull up a baseball salary website to educate yourself about the money because it does balance out.
As for Soto he’s a great hitter who can’t run or field. There’s nothing wrong with that, but let’s not pretend otherwise.