The Padres Go for Broke With a Roster of Superstars

“It’s really a credit to our scouting and development group, really over the last seven or eight years,” General Manager A.J. Preller said at a news conference in San Diego. “The ability to constantly have players that other teams covet, hopefully that’s for here in Petco a lot of times, but it also potentially puts you in position to make this type of deal.”

Ranking the top prospect hauls of all-time

2. July 31, 2007: Rangers get Elvis Andrus, Neftali Feliz, Matt Harrison, Beau Jones, Jarrod Saltalamacchia from Braves (Mark Teixeira)

Teixeira netted four prospects that were on, or eventually landed on top prospect lists. We only did Top 50s in 2007, but Andrus was on it and eventually would climb into the top 25. Baseball America did Top 100 lists back then and Harrison was on its 2007 list, as was Saltalamacchia (he was also in our Top 50). Feliz would climb into our top 10 in 2009 and 2010, first appearing in BA’s Top 100 in 2008.

3. Dec. 6, 2016: White Sox get Yoán Moncada, Michael Kopech, Luis Alexander Basabe, Victor Diaz from Red Sox (Chris Sale)

This belongs on the list solely because of Moncada’s presence in the trade. He was the No. 1 prospect in baseball at the time, and it marked the first time in 25 years the No. 1 guy had been included in a trade. Adding the flame-throwing Kopech, who was also a Top 100 prospect, was just icing on the cake.

Nationals trade Juan Soto to the Padres

Sources: #Nats are set to receive CJ Abrams, OF Robert Hassell III, OF James Wood, RHP Jarlin Susana for Juan Soto and Josh Bell. @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 2, 2022

Update: Jim Bowden on MLB Radio says the deal is completely finalized. 11:52 AM - Jim

Update 2: Bowden says Gore is also part of the package. 11:55 AM - Jim

Update 3:

The package going back to Washington for Juan Soto and Josh Bell, sources tell ESPN:

- LHP MacKenzie Gore
- OF Robert Hassell III
- SS C.J. Abrams
- OF James Wood
- RHP Jarlin Susana
- one more major league player

That's the only holdup right now to the agreed-upon deal.

— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) August 2, 2022

Update 4:

Eric Hosmer has been notified he’s in the agreed-upon deal. He has a no-trade and hasn’t consented yet. Belief is they will figure this out however, one way or another.

— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) August 2, 2022

Fangraphs: 2022 Trade Value: #1 to #10

I’ll be honest: Soto’s placement on this list is partially a statement about how star power can matter more than surplus value. I think there’s still a prevailing feeling in front offices across the game that years of team control, particularly discounted years of control, are more valuable than superstardom. But Soto might challenge that feeling.

Perhaps Soto wouldn’t fetch the sixth-best offer if every player were put on the market at once. In that world, if you missed, you could just use those prospects to bid on Ramírez or Adley Rutschman. But not every player is being put on the market at once. Juan Soto is, though, and if you want to turn some prospects on your team into a 23-year-old with a career 154 wRC+, your options are Soto or no one. That scarcity/availability combination means something.

If you’re wondering why Soto isn’t ranked first, it’s because he isn’t under contract for enough years. If every player were going to stay on their new team forever, it would be a different story, but that’s not how baseball works. If you’re wondering why he’s in the top 10, well, read on.

Trading for Soto gets you a premium bat — he’s projected to be the best player in baseball each of the next two years according to ZiPS — for the 2022 stretch run and two full seasons after that. Maybe you could accomplish something like that in free agency this winter, but probably not; there aren’t enough marquee free agents to satiate every team’s demand for great players, and certainly not 23-year-old great players.

Soto’s defense and baserunning have been quite poor this season, but no one I spoke to thinks that’s his true talent out there. His contact quality is down slightly, too, though not a ton considering the league context. Mostly, though, he’s BABIP’ing .242 for a dead-end team and getting on base at a .400 clip anyway. He’s just a great hitter. He makes the best swing decisions in baseball and also won the Home Run Derby.

Gorman would be keystone piece of Cardinals’ bid to trade for Juan Soto, sources say

As Major League Baseball’s trade deadline approaches and the baseball world focuses its attention on Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, the St. Louis Cardinals have ratcheted up their attempts to acquire the young slugger.

Multiple sources have described negotiations between the clubs that includes Cardinals slugging second baseman Nolan Gorman, and a rejoinder from the Nationals that includes starting pitcher Patrick Corbin in an attempt to shed salary.

Gorman, 22, made his major league debut this season and has nine home runs in 53 games. He has, however, slowed at the plate recently, batting just .193 with a .266 on base percentage since June 1. His vulnerability to high fastballs has resulted in 51 strikeouts in his last 154 plate appearances, but his defense has been steadier than expected at second, where he was moved before the 2021 season, thanks to the Cardinals’ acquisition of third baseman Nolan Arenado.

Though he’s since graduated from the list due to his big league experience, Gorman started the year as the 29th-ranked prospect in all of baseball, according to MLB Pipeline. Some adjustments to his swing once he reached the majors were expected, and the Cardinals have been encouraged that his defensive progress hasn’t slowed even as he’s worked through a fallow period at the plate.

What Yankees, Mets refuse to do in Juan Soto trade sweepstakes

Early word is the Nationals may be willing to accept a prospect-heavy package, especially if an acquiring team is willing to take on a “bad” contract, for 23-year-old wunderkind Juan Soto. The seeming interest in prospects over current pennant-race contributors is leading folks to believe Soto has a decent chance to be dealt now.

That might mean a package ask from the Yankees starting with Anthony Volpe, Oswald Peraza and Jasson Dominguez. And from the Mets a package beginning with Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty and Ronny Mauricio.

There’s no confirmation on any exact request yet. But as to whether the Mets or Yankees would surrender their three top prospects plus more, the answer from folks on both teams was the same: No.

It’s no surprise the Nats may prefer to dump a bloated contract, possibly Patrick Corbin — who has two years left on his $140 million, six-year deal. The interest in prospects would open the field to include more contending teams, while the preference to include an overpriced veteran could eliminate some smaller-market teams — a team taking Soto plus Corbin would be adding $40M.

What Scott Boras is demanding in any new Juan Soto deal

Boras also has invoked Alex Rodriguez as the last superstar due to be a free agent at age 25/26, and how as a free agent A-Rod received 40 percent more than the highest previous salary, which at the time was $25.2 million a season to top Kevin Brown’s previous high of $15 million. (Brown, like Scherzer, was an older star pitcher, but fairly, Brown wasn’t quite the pitcher Scherzer is.)

A-Rod set the record at $252 million which at the time was double the value of the U.S. sports record deal of $126 million for Kevin Garnett. It’s clear Boras sees Soto in that category. Remember the original estimated ask of $500 million from a year ago. That may wind up being conservative as an ask.

Nationals To Entertain Trade Offers For Juan Soto After He Rejects $440MM Offer

In a somewhat shocking development, the Washington Nationals will now listen to trade offers for transcendent superstar Juan Soto, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal. The change of heart comes after Soto reportedly rejected a $440MM extension offer.

The Nationals have long held the position that they would not be open to trading Soto, their 23-year-old superstar, who is already firmly listed among the best hitters in baseball. The Nationals have some time to make a decision, as Soto is under team control for another two seasons beyond this one.

That said, they have made consistent efforts to come to a contract extension with Soto’s agent Scott Boras, with no success. For the Nationals’ part, they’ve made an earnest effort. According to Rosenthal, the latest such offer – the third offer from the Nationals’ side – was for 15 years and a total of $440MM. Perhaps more shocking than the number itself is that the Nats did not include any deferred money in the deal. The Nationals are well known for deferring money in most of their long-term deals.

Why Juan Soto’s Reported Extension Offer Is Not As Outlandish As It Might Seem

According to Hector Gomez, “Talks are intensifying between the Nationals and Juan Soto regarding a second offer from the team to the star for a 13-years, $425 million extension, which will increase the initial $350 million offer by $75 million.”

If true, this would be the second-highest contract in MLB history, just falling behind Los Angeles Angel’s Mike Trout, who earned $426.5 million deal for the next 12-years.

Now, with Trout being universally expected as the greatest player in the sport, the deal did not receive a lot of backlash for being overpaid. In the trend of sport economics, lengthier contracts like Trout and potentially Soto’s are the new norm, as players prefer contract protection for the remainder of their careers over just AAV.

That being said, Soto is rumored to be signing the ‘Trout-esque’ contract heading into his age 24 season in 2023, as opposed to Trout at age 28.

So, by the end of his contract, Soto would be just 36-years old, a much more comfortable mark to still be paying over $30 million a year. Especially for a player of Soto’s makeup, who relies less of explosive athleticism and more-so on his pure offensive approach and power.

Juan Soto trade rumors: Nationals may be ‘motivated’ to trade outfielder

Would trading Juan Soto be the start of a long National nightmare?

Even though the 23-year-old Soto is under team control for two more seasons, the outfielder’s time in a Nationals uniform may be coming to an end sooner than you’d think.

ESPN’s Buster Olney, citing rival MLB executives, reports that the “Nationals might well be compelled — and motivated — to move Soto this summer.”

Likely fueling the Soto trade speculation is the offseason rumor that he turned down a $350 million contract extension with the team. Soto is represented by super agent Scott Boras, and Boras clients routinely opt for free agency rather than signing extensions.

The Blue Jays and the Padres were named as two potential suitors for Soto’s talents, though the trade market hasn’t exactly manifested at this point.