Now what do we do with our Juan Soto Nationals jerseys?

On the Washington Nationals’ website on Tuesday afternoon, it was possible to order a Juan Soto jersey, in either white or red, for $134.99. This was several hours after Juan Soto ceased to be employed by the team, but there was nothing on the site, at least the team shop site, acknowledging that fact.

Given that the prospects the Washington Nationals received in return are still a while from making an impact on the MLB level, it seems plausible that the team shop will continue to sell more Soto jerseys than any of the players they got in the trade for the foreseeable future. Not to worry, though. For your $134.99, you also get free shipping.

I grew up in Cleveland, so this is old hat for me. Sixty years later, you can still make men in their 80s here shake their heads wistfully by mentioning the Rocky Colavito trade.  More recently, the local fan base had probably a month grace period between the point when we realized Francisco Lindor was a special talent and the first speculation about when we would trade him.  We all bought Lindor jerseys, anyway.

So, when a guy like Soto gets traded, I look at it from the viewpoint of the fans. Jerry Seinfeld said years ago that we are actually rooting for laundry, because they can put anyone in that uniform and we will form an attachment (and pay $134.99 for the privilege, apparently). But fans are smart enough to know when a player is special, and they savor those moments because they know it might not happen again for a decade or more. Trading Juan Soto might or might not have been the right move from a baseball standpoint. But for a Nationals fan, there is no way this trade is anything but a massive loss.

Soto is likely to play another 15 or 20 years. The Padres already have Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis, Jr. signed to contracts so long that they make more sense in dog years, so they will likely not hesitate to sign Soto to a deal that binds him to them for most of his playing years.  Which means that when Soto’s career is remembered, his time in Washington will be a footnote, like David Ortiz playing for the Minnesota Twins.

There are doubtless hundreds of Nats’ fans looking at a Soto jersey in their closet and telling themselves, never again. They probably said the same thing when Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon left town, not to mention losing the entire Senators’ franchise twice, for those old enough to remember that.  For those who want to avoid getting burned by their next jersey purchase, the Nats are offering a jersey with “YOUR NAME” on the back, for $149.99.

Or else you can wait until the C.J. Abrams jerseys go on sale later this summer. He won’t be eligible for free agency until 2028.