Juan Soto is expected to be moved before the trade deadline, and the teams that are best positioned to add him are listed by the author. There is a time and a place for this.
Washington Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said at the beginning of June that he wouldn't be trading Juan Soto. With the trade deadline less than two weeks away, that mindset has changed. The man is still coming to terms with it.
"It feels really weird," he said. You're not sure what to trust. At the end of the day, I don't have a say in what they decide.
On Monday, one day after reports surfaced that the Nationals are exploring trade possibilities, Soto spoke from All-Star Game media availabilities. The total value of the deal is the largest in baseball history, but the average annual value is more than the contracts of 15 current players.
A source familiar with the process said that Soto was hesitant to commit long term to an organization undergoing a potential change in ownership and navigating through what promises to be a lengthy rebuild. He stressed the importance of remaining focused even though he was disappointed.
He said that the trade talks have made his job more difficult. You can't say that's because of your statistics or anything on the field. At the end of the day, I just try to forget about everything outside for three hours, and try to be the 12-year-old that I've been and play baseball as hard as I can.
Through the early part of his career, he has established himself as one of the best pure hitters of all time, a reincarnation of Ted Williams. He will make $17.1 million in 2022, with two more years of arbitration before he hits the market at 26.
Baseball fans and executives are excited about the possibility of a trade before the August 2 deadline, but Soto doesn't seem to agree.
He said that the reports about a potential trade were pretty frustrating. I don't want my stuff to be seen and I don't want to throw it out there. It feels terrible. We just have to keep playing. What is happening doesn't matter.
After winning the World Series, the Nationals spiraled. Anthony Rendon left via free agency in the middle of the year, and other players struggled to live up to their inflated contracts. The Nats held the worst winning percentage and run differential in the sport heading into the All-Star break, even though they had the best batting average in July. The Washington Post reported in April that the Lerner family was considering a sale of the franchise after 16 years of ownership, a circumstance that probably prompted the front office to make a third public offer.
An opening day deadline would be ideal for negotiations.
"I would love to do that because it's very hard, with all this stuff, and then try to make a winning team while you're dealing with a lot of other things." I'm going to talk to my people to find out what we can do to help.
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