It was always going to take a lot for the Mets or Yankees to come away with Juan Soto before Major League Baseball’s Aug. 2 trade deadline, but now we have a clearer picture of what it would take to nab the superstar outfielder from the Washington Nationals.
Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic said on FS1 disclosed that multiple teams were told the asking price for the 23-year-old included a mixture of four to five top prospects and young major leaguers with low service time.
For the Mets, that would mean giving up most of their most valuable prospects like Francisco Alvarez, Brett Baty, Ronny Mauricio, Alex Ramirez, and Mark Vientos.
The Yankees would have to part ways with Anthony Volpe, Jasson Dominguez, and Oswald Peraza.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo apparently isn’t negotiating, either. A team must either meet his exorbitantly high asking price or the discussion ends.
It’s shrewd, considering the enormous ask, but it’s understandable.
Soto is under team control for the next two seasons and is already on track to be a Hall of Famer despite his career being in its infancy. Rizzo clearly doesn’t feel the need to rush to move him because of that, understanding there still is time to find the perfect deal.
That being said, the price for two-and-a-half seasons of Soto compared to two seasons — especially for a team trying to make a serious playoff push now — could lower Washington’s return if nothing happens this summer and trade talks resume in the offseason.
It remains to be seen what a potential trade partner taking another big contract like starting pitcher Patrick Corbin’s would do to Rizzo’s initial asking price. Still, it certainly doesn’t feel like a Soto deal is going to happen in the next eight or nine days.
A big splash will have to be found elsewhere.
