Why the Blue Jays should trade for Soto

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Last weekend, big news broke out of Washington that the Nationals had a massive 15-year $440 million contract offer rejected by young superstar outfielder Juan Soto.

There were also reports that Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, believed Washington’s offer to be about $100 million short of the appropriate value. It has become clear to the Nationals ownership and front office that they aren’t going to be able to sign their young slugger. So, they made the contract offer public via the media and then made it clear they would likely trade the 23-year-old. 

This was the second major Soto negotiation the Nationals have had with Boras. Previously, Washington offered $350 million over 13 years. The only difference is that Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said the team had no intention of trading Soto after the first round of failed negotiations. At that point, they figured they would likely make another offer and just wanted to regroup. They may have even believed that they knew what it would take ultimately to make a deal.

The other thing to keep in mind is that the club is up for sale, so the Nationals brass may have wanted to discuss whether the team would be more valuable with Soto signed to an extraordinary deal or whether trading him for multiple impact prospects was the better way to go.

The direction is now clear. The Nationals aren’t going to sign Soto and he will be traded, most likely before the deadline on Aug. 2.

Soto will not be a free agent until after the 2024 season, so if the Nats don’t hear the offer they were hoping for at the trade deadline, they could pull back and wait until the off-season to trade him. Any team acquiring the right fielder now would potentially have him