Juan Soto rumors: 5 teams that should trade for him

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According to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto has rejected a 15-year deal for $440 million.

Considering that offer would be the most lucrative in MLB history as the biggest contract (by money) is Mike Trout’s 12-year, $426.5 million and by length, it’s Bryce Harper’s 13-year, $330 million deal, it is a bit surprising that Soto turned down the offer.

But since he turned it down, the Washington Nationals are much more likely to trade him either at the trade deadline or this offseason. He has two more seasons of arbitration eligibility, meaning that if a team traded for him before this trade deadline, they’d be acquiring him for about seven weeks of this season and two more years.

In other words, it will take a huge haul for a team to acquire him.

Here are five teams that could (or should) trade for him.

The Los Angeles Dodgers could trade for Juan Soto

The Los Angeles Dodgers have a good farm system (#5 farm system among the 30 MLB teams, according to MLB.com entering the season). Considering that they have just about infinite money, they could also afford to pay Soto for the next two seasons and, perhaps, even long-term as well.

Most teams that have the prospects that they do aren’t willing to trade them (because, again, the Dodgers have infinite money and most other teams don’t).

If they did trade for Soto, this proposal by Jeff Passan of ESPN could possibly get it done but it would be a massive deal.

Every team has an algorithm that assigns a dollar value to a player. These numbers from @BaseballValues are one example of those. Cannot imagine the Dodgers would do a deal like this. But it gives you a sense of just how much talent the Nationals would look to reap for Juan Soto. pic.twitter.com/53GknQWV4b
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) July 16, 2022

If they acquired him this season, they could do a number of things positionally. They could use him as their DH. They also could use him in right field and move Mookie Betts to center field or they could have Soto in left, platoon Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor in center field with Taylor playing the infield occasionally (or trade one of them to the Nationals), and keep Betts in right field.

WASHINGTON, DC – JULY 13: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals attempts to get back to third base before being tagged out against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning of game one of a doubleheader at Nationals Park on July 13, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Scott Taetsch/Getty Images) /

The Boston Red Sox

On their MLB team, one of the weakest aspects of the Boston Red Sox is the offense in the outfield. None of their primary outfielders have an OPS+ above league average so they could definitely use an upgrade out there.

Despite having a down year, Alex Verdugo would still be in left and instead of splitting time between center and right field, Jackie Bradley Jr. would play center, at least until Kiké Hernández returns.

The Red Sox didn’t have as good of a farm system as the Dodgers but it has strengthened throughout the season. MLB.com had them at #14 entering the season but now, FanGraphs has them in the top five since a lot of prospects have graduated from the prospect status.

The Texas Rangers

The Texas Rangers have followed in the footsteps of the Los Angeles Dodgers in a few ways, including hiring former Dodgers third base coach Chris Woodward as their manager and signing former Dodgers shortstop Corey Seager.

The Rangers also had a top 10 farm system entering this season, a willingness to spend (they spent more than half a billion on Corey Seager and Marcus Semien this past offseason), and they need some help in the corner outfield spots.

Their primary right fielder is Kole Calhoun, who has an OPS+ of 94, and their primary left fielder is Brad Miller, who has an OPS+ of 69. Their primary DH (Mitch Garver) is on the 60-day IL. So any way you look at it, they could plug Soto in easily without moving a great player.

ATLANTA, GA – JULY 08: Juan Soto #22 of the Washington Nationals in action against the Atlanta Braves in the sixth inning at Truist Park on July 8, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brett Davis/Getty Images) /

The San Diego Padres

The Padres are another team with a good farm system that would be a great fit for Juan Soto.

For their outfield, Wil Myers is on the injured list and hasn’t been great. Trent Grisham hasn’t been great either. Jurickson Profar has been injured recently and in his last 20 games, he is only hitting .197.

Nomar Mazara has been good since he got the call up from the minors earlier in the year but Soto would be a major upgrade.

Also, having a lineup with Soto, Manny Machado, and a healthy Fernando Tatis Jr. would be a lineup that might be able to compete with the Dodgers and maybe even knock them out of the NL West lead.

The Chicago Cubs

The Chicago Cubs are in the middle of a rebuild but owner Tom Ricketts has shown that he is willing to spend some money. This past offseason, the Cubs signed starting pitcher Marcus Stroman and Japanese outfielder Seiya Suzki. While they are still a long way from contention, Stroman’s contract shows that they want to compete. Trading for Soto would help push that forward.

The Cubs also have a strong farm system (FanGraphs had their system as the sixth-best in the sport in their mid-season update).

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The Cubs also have plenty of payroll space since their payroll is about $60 million lower than it was in 2019 (the last non-pandemic season).

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