Extend Soto

[imref]

Bowden predicts Soto to the Yankees next year for a Anthony Volpe

https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/.amp/news/mlb-insider-predicts-new-york-yankees-will-trade-for-washington-nationals-star-juan-soto

[Mattionals]

Bowden predicts Soto to the Yankees next year for a Anthony Volpe

https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/.amp/news/mlb-insider-predicts-new-york-yankees-will-trade-for-washington-nationals-star-juan-soto

Bowden should just hang 'em up.

[Smithian]

Pirates just locked down Ke'Bryan Hayes for 8 years for $70 million. Damn steal for the Pirates.

Time to extend Soto, like Rendon, was years before those talks actually began.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

Bowden predicts Soto to the Yankees next year for a Anthony Volpe

https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/.amp/news/mlb-insider-predicts-new-york-yankees-will-trade-for-washington-nationals-star-juan-soto

It was one thing to let Harper and Rendon go but this is potentially the best player in the entire league and you aren’t really paying anyone with the exception of Strasburg and I guess Corbin. And the whole trade Soto deal. There’s absolutely nothing you could really get in return to replace him. A package of prospects is just that, prospects. Pay him and build around him. Don’t be stupid.

[imref]

It was one thing to let Harper and Rendon go but this is potentially the best player in the entire league and you aren’t really paying anyone with the exception of Strasburg and I guess Corbin. And the whole trade Soto deal. There’s absolutely nothing you could really get in return to replace him. A package of prospects is just that, prospects. Pay him and build around him. Don’t be stupid.

[imref]

Bump

[Smithian]

It was one thing to let Harper and Rendon go but this is potentially the best player in the entire league and you aren’t really paying anyone with the exception of Strasburg and I guess Corbin. And the whole trade Soto deal. There’s absolutely nothing you could really get in return to replace him. A package of prospects is just that, prospects. Pay him and build around him. Don’t be stupid.

I don't know how you get a package that comes close to his value.

But if the Nationals are terrible this year and there isn't real progress by a lot of young players, I think we have to consider what two years of team control of Soto could fetch. At least two top 100 prospects and either they take on a lot of Corbin money or they send back a team control starter. It has to be a massive package. Bigger than Betts trade since he would have two years of team control.

If this team ends up winning 70 games, Ruiz rakes, Luis Garcia and Lane Thomas prove themselves every day major leaguers, and a couple young pitchers play well enough to lock down spots as back of the rotation starters, then you keep Soto and go for it the next two seasons. But that takes a lot of things breaking right.

If this season is bad, it may be time for a sober conversation this coming offseason.

[nfotiu]

Speculation in an espn Buster Olney article today.  It's getting tougher and tougher to make a rational argument not to trade Soto.

1. Will the Washington Nationals trade Juan Soto?

At 23 years old, Soto is already a superstar, and there aren't any comparable examples of hitters of his stature being dealt at such a young age. But rival execs say the Nationals might well be compelled -- and motivated -- to move Soto this summer.


They have already tried and failed to sign him to a whopper contract extension. He is represented by agent Scott Boras, who almost always takes his clients into free agency, which begins for Soto after the 2024 season. And the Nationals are going through significant transitions: the team is reportedly for sale, general manager Mike Rizzo is in the last year of his current contract and the franchise that won the 2019 World Series is terrible so far in 2022.

Soto is making $17.1 million this season, in his second year of arbitration eligibility, and he's likely to earn a record salary through arbitration next season.

"If they're not going to sign him [to a long-term deal], then they'll need to trade him," one evaluator said. "The question is: When?"

Rizzo has demonstrated a willingness to be an aggressive dealer in the past. In the summer before Bryce Harper reached free agency, Rizzo had a trade arranged with the Houston Astros that was eventually squelched by ownership. Given Soto's rising salary, the sooner he is traded, the more the Nationals will get in return -- and if the Lerner family is serious about selling the team, incoming ownership would likely prefer that any Soto trade occur before the transfer of power takes place.

But trading a player of Soto's potential is not for the faint of heart, and not just because the decision-maker's résumé might one day contain the ugly line of swapped a first-ballot Hall of Famer. It's also difficult to glean equal value in a trade for someone as great as Soto. The Lerner family might not want that attached to their legacy; the same could be true for Mike Rizzo.

Front-office types point to two teams that might be really motivated to move on Soto: The hyper aggressive San Diego Padres, who could dangle infielder C.J. Abrams and pitcher MacKenzie Gore; and the Blue Jays, who can dream on a left-handed star to complement the right-handed hitting Vladimir Guerrero Jr.

Given that Soto is still a couple of years from free agency, the Nationals could set a really high price and just wait for a bidder to step up with an offer of cornerstone prospects. Meanwhile, the Nats have plenty of other pieces to consider: Josh Bell, Nelson Cruz and others.

[Mattionals]

Speculation in an espn Buster Olney article today.  It's getting tougher and tougher to make a rational argument not to trade Soto.

It's doubtful any team will put up a package for Soto's value.

[zimm_da_kid]

If we do it, the dodgers and mariners are the only farm systems with the blue chippers and depth to interest me.

Dodgers could do: cartaya, pepiot/miller, Busch, Vargas as the core of the deal.

Mariners could do: marte, Lewis/kelenic, Hancock, and brash/Kirby

[Slateman]

Soto isnt going anywhere or getting extended until the team is sold

[Kevrock]

Mariners could do: marte, Lewis/kelenic, Hancock, and brash/Kirby

Julio Rodriguez or gtfo

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

Letting Harper walk was one thing, dealing Juan Soto would probably kill this fanbase. You’ll have the hardcore nerds who post on forums who will still follow but Nats Park is going to be empty.

[nfotiu]

Soto isnt going anywhere or getting extended until the team is sold

Is 2 more years of Soto worth anything as an asset to a potential buyer, or is it a liability as the article suggests?

It seems like it would be tough to sell the team with both the Soto uncertainty and the MASN mess.   People in a place to make this kind of investment would prefer some certainty over a bunch of big unknowns.

[Kevrock]

Soto isnt going anywhere or getting extended until the team is sold

Probably but I don't know. New ownership would want to extend him or have the previous regime trade him. Imagine buying a team and immediately losing the best player in baseball

Dying picturing Boras taking a new owner to the cleaners with this leverage. We really need a Bezos or someone to go toe-to-toe with Cohen.

[Kevrock]

It's doubtful any team will put up a package for Soto's value.

Because how can you?

[Kevrock]

Bowden predicts Soto to the Yankees next year for a Anthony Volpe

https://www.si.com/mlb/yankees/.amp/news/mlb-insider-predicts-new-york-yankees-will-trade-for-washington-nationals-star-juan-soto

My nightmare is the Mets signing him in Free Agency. Which seems pretty possible.

[Slateman]

Is 2 more years of Soto worth anything as an asset to a potential buyer, or is it a liability as the article suggests?

It seems like it would be tough to sell the team with both the Soto uncertainty and the MASN mess.   People in a place to make this kind of investment would prefer some certainty over a bunch of big unknowns.

Yes. In fact, he is the only marketable piece so he is an enormous asset. The Nationals have nothing until they make the playoffs if they dont have Soto. No national games. No talk on baseball blogs or MLB TV. The Nationals are worth less in a sale if Soto is traded.

[Slateman]

Probably but I don't know. New ownership would want to extend him or have the previous regime trade him. Imagine buying a team and immediately losing the best player in baseball

Dying picturing Boras taking a new owner to the cleaners with this leverage. We really need a Bezos or someone to go toe-to-toe with Cohen.

But the Lerners wont make that monster deal on their way out. The team will be sold before Soto's contract is up.

[nfotiu]

Letting Harper walk was one thing, dealing Juan Soto would probably kill this fanbase. You’ll have the hardcore nerds who post on forums who will still follow but Nats Park is going to be empty.

Soto is not putting too many butts in the seats when they are losing 100 games a years anyway.   Keeping Soto for another couple years on a bad team and letting him go for nothing is the worst case scenario.   Plus they'll be paying him some pretty big arbitration salaries without much return if the team is terrible anyway.

You can say that they need to sign him, but Boras isn't having Soto sign on a bad team without a lot of hope and huge question marks around ownership, unless they throw over 600 million at him.   

Trading Soto for prospects, getting some high draft picks, settling MASN deal and selling to stable owners is probably the only way for this team to start moving forward with some hope and a fresh start.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

If you’re a potential buyer, wouldn’t you want to keep Juan Soto? I mean, if you don’t have Soto what exactly are you selling to your (new to you) fanbase? A Strasburg who might never play again? Gray and Ruiz if they ever amount to anything? You were able to let other stars leave because of Soto. I think he would be the first thing a new owner takes care of to prove to the fanbase they want to win.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

Soto is not putting too many butts in the seats when they are losing 100 games a years anyway.   Keeping Soto for another couple years on a bad team and letting him go for nothing is the worst case scenario.   Plus they'll be paying him some pretty big arbitration salaries without much return if the team is terrible anyway.

You can say that they need to sign him, but Boras isn't having Soto sign on a bad team without a lot of hope and huge question marks around ownership, unless they throw over 600 million at him.   

Trading Soto for prospects, getting some high draft picks, settling MASN deal and selling to stable owners is probably the only way for this team to start moving forward with some hope and a fresh start.

I disagree. There’s simply nothing they can get in return to off-set the value of what you’d be giving up. The angels sucked forever and still paid Trout. Plenty of crappy teams pay stars and they do it because you have to have something to market. It’s still a business. Casual fans go to see Juan Soto. They don’t go to see the top 100 prospect you traded him for that they’ve never heard of. So I just cannot imagine a new potential owner being okay with dealing away possibly the leagues best player and a 23-year old superstar they can build a brand around.

[nfotiu]

I disagree. There’s simply nothing they can get in return to off-set the value of what you’d be giving up. The angels sucked forever and still paid Trout. Plenty of crappy teams pay stars and they do it because you have to have something to market. It’s still a business. Casual fans go to see Juan Soto. They don’t go to see the top 100 prospect you traded him for that they’ve never heard of. So I just cannot imagine a new potential owner being okay with dealing away possibly the leagues best player and a 23-year old superstar they can build a brand around.

Casual fans go to see a winning team.   They don't go to watch Soto on a team that loses every night.  Trout isn't a Boras guy, so the Angels were at least able to negotiate with him in good faith.   Regardless, signing Trout for 400 million to play on a team that is usually near the bottom of the division is not the model I'm hoping for.

[Five Banners]

If you’re a potential buyer, wouldn’t you want to keep Juan Soto? I mean, if you don’t have Soto what exactly are you selling to your (new to you) fanbase? A Strasburg who might never play again? Gray and Ruiz if they ever amount to anything? You were able to let other stars leave because of Soto. I think he would be the first thing a new owner takes care of to prove to the fanbase they want to win.

Figures to be a priority

[Slateman]

If you’re a potential buyer, wouldn’t you want to keep Juan Soto? I mean, if you don’t have Soto what exactly are you selling to your (new to you) fanbase? A Strasburg who might never play again? Gray and Ruiz if they ever amount to anything? You were able to let other stars leave because of Soto. I think he would be the first thing a new owner takes care of to prove to the fanbase they want to win.

Short term, yes. Long term? Maybe. Whoever buys the team is inheriting two albatross contracts, plus Scherzers deferred money. Tacking on another 500 million is a big deal, and one that new ownership would want a voice in.