The San Diego Padres have a history with Juan Soto and could emerge as suitor in a trade
Nationals outfielder Juan Soto is a 22-year-old phenom and he is set to become the next MLB star to earn a big payday. Over the course of his young career, Soto has won a World Series, Silver Slugger Award and a National League Batting title.
He is one of the games best hitters and when he makes contact with the ball. Soto is on track to become of the greatest hitters of his generation.
In 553 games, Soto has a stat line of .292/.427/.540, .968 OPS, with 117 home runs, 354 RBIs, 560 hits, 452 walks and 406 strikeouts.
Soto has turned down an offer to remain a National for the remainder of his career. The superstar slugger rejected a 15-year, $440 million offer according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
This will prompt the Nationals to trade the face of the franchise.
The young outfielder has been everything the Nationals had envisioned what former star Bryce Harper was going to become.
Soto’s former hitting coach Kevin Long has predicted that he would become one of the best players to play the game.
The left-handed slugger has done nothing but produce for the Nationals since he has been in the majors. He has been what Harper was supposed to be for the Nationals. However, Nationals fans almost didn’t get to see what Soto could become in Washington.
Last year, Padres general manager AJ Preller went on the Big Time Baseball Podcast hosted by Jon Heyman and Tony Gwynn Jr. During their 33 minute podcast, Heyman asked how the Padres almost signed Juan Soto as an international free agent.
Back in 2015, Soto was an international free agent and the Padres were interested in the young slugger. Preller stated that the Padres were trying to sign Yoan Moncada but had they signed him, they would not have been able to spend the money on Soto.
The Padres scouts has Soto atop their list as well as Fernando Tatis Jr. Instead, the Padres turned their attention elsewhere and the Nationals swooped in and signed the coveted phenom. Moncada would wind up signing with the Red Sox and the White Sox would sign Tatis Jr.
In the end, everything has a way of working themselves out as the Padres would sign James Shields in 2015 and later on would trade him to the White Sox and land coveted prospect Fernanda Tatis Jr.
At the time of the trade, Preller would say “It’s never easy to make a trade and trade a guy that you think a lot of in James Shields.”
“But on the flip side, you get two players you’re really excited about — and some flexibility,” said the Padres general manager. The only young player worth being excited about just signed a 14-year, $330 million contract this past offseason with the Padres. That wasn’t a bad haul for Tatis Jr. who has only played 143 games over two big league seasons.
In closing, had Soto signed with the Padres it could have changed the landscape of the game today. The Padres may have had no need to trade Shields to the White Sox. However, had history stayed the same, the Padres could have had Soto and Tatis Jr. in the middle of their order.
Soto will end up going on to potentially become the first $500 million player in the game. Tatis Jr. will have already been cashing his checks while Harper is still looking for his first championship in Philadelphia.
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