One of the best young players in baseball may be heading elsewhere in the near future.
On Saturday, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal reported that star Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto has rejected what would be a record-breaking 15-year, $440 million contract and is now likely to be traded.
This is a massive departure from what the Nationals expected. On June 1, general manager Mike Rizzo stated that the team had no intentions of trading the 23-year-old and wanted to build the franchise around him. But after Soto rejected a contract that would’ve exceeded the total value of the 12-year, $426.5 million deal that Mike Trout signed with the Angels in 2019, things have changed.
Rosenthal reports that the prevailing sentiment in Washington is that if Soto won’t agree to this deal, he won’t agree to any deal. Unlike previous large contracts the Nationals have handed out, this offer didn’t include any deferred money.
Soto, who made his Major League debut at age 19 in 2018, has been an All-Star selection in each of the past two seasons and made the All-MLB First Team in 2020 and 2021, also earning Silver Slugger Awards in both seasons. He took home the National League batting title in 2020, as well.
He’s played a bit below his usual level in 2022 as he’s currently batting .247, but he still has 19 home runs and 42 RBI on the season. He agreed to a one-year, $17.1 million contract with Washington in March that allowed him to avoid arbitration, but he has two more years of arbitration before he becomes an unrestricted free agent in 2025.
Breaking: The Nationals are open to hearing trade offers for Juan Soto after the star turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer that would have been the largest contract in baseball history, according to a report in The Athletic. pic.twitter.com/AaIXBZ1rjG
— ESPN (@espn) July 16, 2022
The Nationals currently have the worst record in baseball at 30-62, and they could look to make the most of a lost season and land future assets for Soto ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline. If they do, a contender could land a game-changing player just in time for a playoff push.
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