Juan Soto, Yankee

[Senatorswin]

On the Red Sox/Yankee Fox broadcast tonight they said Juan Soto cried all day when he was traded to the Padres because he thought he would be a National for life. They said it affected how he did with the Padres.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

It's hard to remember just how young he was at the time because he had accomplished so much. He had a great time with the team, it exposed him to so much beyond how he grew up, he came through the dominican complex, he was so comfortable, actually bought a house with a place for his Mom, etc...  Not everyone is Jeter and born to be a Yankee. He looked to the Nats as family. Even the hire of Boras probably had him thinking, "he's made good deals for the guys I played with and works with the Nats so I can trust his judgment."

[HalfSmokes]

On the Red Sox/Yankee Fox broadcast tonight they said Juan Soto cried all day when he was traded to the Padres because he thought he would be a National for life. They said it affected how he did with the Padres.

Add that to the list of things Rizzo and Lerner’s penny pinching screwed up

[Slateman]

He could have been a National for life. Tell your agent to make it happen. Strasburg had no problem doing it

[Five Banners]

He could have been a National for life. Tell your agent to make it happen. Strasburg had no problem doing it

Yup. The growing narrative seems quite something.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

On the Red Sox/Yankee Fox broadcast tonight they said Juan Soto cried all day when he was traded to the Padres because he thought he would be a National for life. They said it affected how he did with the Padres.

I think Soto should still be here as I’ve posted many times but he has let Boras dictate the whole thing. If he truly wanted to be here he would’ve countered with what he wanted and they could’ve come to an accord. Truthfully I do believe in his heart of hearts he wanted to be here. He wanted to start and finish his career as a Nat but he should’ve put his foot down with Boras if that was the case. Said “get this done. I don’t want to leave” but he didn’t. I think there’s enough blame to go around. The Lerners are not innocent in this as they offered a deal with insane years tied to a low AAV however no counter means Juan was okay with leaving. Rizzo told them what it would ultimately lead to and the Padres in turn had to do the same thing. 

[nobleisthyname]

Maybe Soto wanted to stay, but it's clear he valued going for a record setting contract even more. Nothing wrong with that but the Nationals' offer was worth at least a counter if he really wanted to stay.

[HalfSmokes]

I think the team being terrible and looking like it would stay terrible for the foreseeable future played a part in the lack of a counter. The Lerners waived the white flag so fast after a ring that even Loria would be impressed

[Slateman]

Maybe Soto wanted to stay, but it's clear he valued going for a record setting contract even more. Nothing wrong with that but the Nationals' offer was worth at least a counter if he really wanted to stay.

If you want to stay with your "home town" team, then you take some sort of discount. The extent of that discount is debatable, but you will not get record setting contracts unless you're Mike Trout.

He will never tell the difference in his life between signing the Nats last offer and whatever record deal he gets. Hope he's happy there.

[rileyn]

Once it became obvious that we flushed $245M on the Strasburg contract, the Soto ship sailed.

[welch]

Add that to the list of things Rizzo and Lerner’s penny pinching screwed up

Soto wanted more than the Nats offer, and the Nats offered more than any player had gotten. And, as best as I've seen, no player other than Ohtani has been offered more.

[nfotiu]

You don't hire Boras as your agent if you value staying on your home team.  A team just has to come to terms that they only get the team control years on a Boras draft pick.   If the return on trade is more valuable than the player for those years, then a trade is the right move.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

On the Red Sox/Yankee Fox broadcast tonight they said Juan Soto cried all day when he was traded to the Padres because he thought he would be a National for life. They said it affected how he did with the Padres.

Boo freakin hoo.  Should have accepted the deal that was offered, then.  He could have had a crap-ton of money and stayed, but he chose a crap-ton of money plus another crap-ton.  Live with it.

[Smithian]

He could have been a National for life. Tell your agent to make it happen. Strasburg had no problem doing it

This is truth.

I think in mid-2019 the Nats would have give him 10 years, $200 million. I think Rizzo said they'd have signed him right then and there to 10-year, $180 mil, so $200 mil isn't a stretch. He turned that down. Probably smart he turned it down, but that still would have been a massive amount of money to a player with barely a year of service and having yet won a championship. Then they offered him $350 million and $450+ million deals in 2022. I get the cold math means he will get more in free agency, but having a top three all time contract wasn't like he was settling for pennies for a home town discount.

He was always going to free agency. And while the Nationals should be able to maintain top 10 payroll with the market, the Nats probably aren't going to have a payroll where they could put together a winning team while having outbid the Yankees and Dodgers and Red Sox for Juan Soto.

I bet Juan Soto wanted to be a National for life. I believe it. I wanted it to happen. But this is a business and Juan Soto valued the mega contract over team loyalty, which is absolutely his right. I'm just not going to buy any story about his heartbreak about leaving the Nationals, especially when he went to San Diego and played hardball again.

[KnorrForYourMoney]

I bet Juan Soto wanted to be a National for life. I believe it. I wanted it to happen. But this is a business and Juan Soto valued the mega contract over team loyalty, which is absolutely his right. I'm just not going to buy any story about his heartbreak about leaving the Nationals, especially when he went to San Diego and played hardball again.

I believe it, I just think it's founded in some delusion that it's exclusively the team's fault for not mortgaging the future just to build the team around one player.

[dracnal]

Honestly I suspect that given how young he started in the minors, how fast he moved to the majors, how little English he had learned prior to that point, and watching Bryce and Rendon go through free agency put him in a place where Boras had an outsized influence on him. He may have wanted to stay, but I doubt he really felt like overruling Boras was an option. It's still his fault for not putting his foot down, but I think his situation left him very vulnerable to a high pressure sales pitch along the lines of 'this is just how things are done, Juan.'

[imref]

Gotta hope that Boras didn't go into business for himself and turn down the Soto extension without Soto's input.

[SkinsNatFan21RIP]

Gotta hope that Boras didn't go into business for himself and turn down the Soto extension without Soto's input.

Isn’t that what Soto claims? Boras is making the decisions.

[Smithian]

Scott Boras works for Juan Soto.

Juan Soto chose to hire Scott Boras. No one made that decision for him.

He could have chosen to be Bobby Witt, Jr., but he didn't. Which is fine, it's his life and he's doing great in New York. Just never feed be a sob story about how he wanted to be a Washington National.

[rileyn]

Scott Boras works for Juan Soto.

Juan Soto chose to hire Scott Boras. No one made that decision for him.

He could have chosen to be Bobby Witt, Jr., but he didn't. Which is fine, it's his life and he's doing great in New York. Just never feed be a sob story about how he wanted to be a Washington National.

100% this.

[Slateman]

I might have some sympathy had Soto and Boras negotiated in good faith. But they didnt even counter, other than with some vague notion of wanting the highest AAV and largest contract.

A 10 year, 500 million counter offer puts all of this to bed. Oh well, I've moved on. I hope Soto gets the contract he's looking for. And I hope he watches the Nationals have a ton of postseason success without him.

[imref]

I might have some sympathy had Soto and Boras negotiated in good faith. But they didnt even counter, other than with some vague notion of wanting the highest AAV and largest contract.

A 10 year, 500 million counter offer puts all of this to bed. Oh well, I've moved on. I hope Soto gets the contract he's looking for. And I hope he watches the Nationals have a ton of postseason success without him.

"A ton of postseason success"?  Who hacked Slate's account?

[KnorrForYourMoney]

"A ton of postseason success"?  Who hacked Slate's account?

Slate is the meme with the guy wiping sweat from his brow while having to choose between two mutually exclusive buttons:

One reads, "the Nationals are about to have a ton of postseason success," and the other says, "every major prospect in the Nationals' system is a bust."

[Natsinpwc]

Everyone makes it sound like Soto’s tenure in SD wa SA total disaster. He helped them make the playoffs in 2022 and beat their hated rivals the Dodgers and make the NLCS.  And this year he will be back in the playoffs. I think he stays with the Yanks as their playoff prospects the next hew years are good. Maybe almost as good as the Nats. 

[JCA-CrystalCity]

Yanks should tank and deal Soto a 3rd time