Juan Soto is available for a trade after rejecting a 15-year, $440 million offer from the Washington Nationals, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, and at least one team is dreaming of acquiring the superstar. The San Diego Padres are interested in pairing Soto with star Fernando Tatis Jr., according to Jon Heyman of New York Post. “An early favorite for Soto might be the San Diego Padres, the former ‘small’ market team that has been full of surprises and excitement in recent years under GM AJ Preller, a young man who knows the game and loves to gamble” . Heyman wrote. The 23-year-old slugger will cost a huge package of prospects, draft picks and other pieces. Any team that wants him should also be open to the idea of giving him a $500 million contract extension. San Diego already has enough heavy contracts to pay the fifth-highest payroll in baseball, according to Spotrac. The team’s two highest-paid players are Tatis, who has a 14-year, $340 million contract, and Machado, who has a 10-year, $300 million contract. Hosmer, meanwhile, has signed an eight-year, $144 million contract, and Yu Darvish has a six-year contract worth $126 million. Still, it’s no surprise that the Padres are at least considering acquiring Soto. The Dominican is one of the best players in the game and has a long, bright future ahead of him. He is a two-time All-Star, two-time Silver Slugger, a title winner and a World Series winner. This season, he is slashing .247/.405/.490 with 19 home runs, 42 RBI and five stolen bases in 89 games. Additionally, the Padres have never been shy about acquiring star players to help them in their pursuit of a World Series title. They have done this in the past by signing Eric Hosmer, Manny Machado, Mike Clevinger and many others. San Diego is currently second in the NL West with a 51-41 record, 9.5 games behind the first place Dodgers. The return of Tatis from injury and the addition of Soto to the lineup could help the club close that gap. However, Soto is under team control through the 2024 campaign with two more seasons of arbitration eligibility, so the Nationals don’t have to trade him this year if they don’t receive an offer they think he’s worth. So it may be a long time before we see Soto move unless the Padres, or another club, comes up with the right package.
