Following his latest rejected contract offer, the Washington Nationals are open to trading their 23-year old, two-time All-Star Juan Soto.
The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal was the first to report Soto rejected an offer from the Nationals of $440 million over 15 years. As a result, the Nationals are prepared to field trade offers for the budding superstar.
However, it appears the team will make one final push to get a deal done. According to MLB insider Hector Gomez, the Nationals plan to make a better and final offer to Soto before resorting to trade him.
Soto remains under team control through the 2024 season. Yet, the Nationals are concerned they’ll never reach a deal to keep him beyond.
Soto is represented by super agent Scott Boras which complicates the chances of the Nationals getting a done deal. Boras historically likes to take his younger clients into free agency to maximize their value.
The Nationals are familiar with Boras’ tactics. He did so with Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon. Both ultimately led to them signing with other teams in free agency.
The $440 million the Nationals offered Soto would have been the largest total value in MLB history. However, the $29.3 million annual average value pales in comparison to deals by other players. That includes Mike Trout, who leads all position players with a $35.5 million AAV on his 12-year, $426 million contract.
Soto previously rejected a $350 million, 13-year offer from the Nats. And another one in May that was reported to be more than the original offer. The third rejection points to the fact Boras and Soto are looking to be at the top or near it in AAV.
The future of the franchise depends on the Nationals’ next offer to Soto. Right now they’re competing with themselves. Reportedly, Soto has not presented a counter offer. So it’s unclear what the magic number is specifically.
But the next offer will be telling for both sides. Are the Nationals truly invested in keeping Soto? Does Soto truly want to remain in Washington? The answers to both will be revealed in the final offer.
