The MLB world was shocked earlier this month when Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto rejected a massive $440 million extension to stay with the organization for the foreseeable future.
It is now expected that Soto will likely be traded at some point by the Nationals, but new reports indicate that they will make one more attempt to keep him in Washington.
MLB insider Héctor Gómez reported on Friday that the Nationals plan to make one last offer to Soto.
I can confirm: The #Nationals plan to make another offer to Juan Soto, which will be their last. If Soto does not accept, he will be traded before the deadline. https://t.co/bkNzAwPDx9
— Héctor Gómez (@hgomez27) July 29, 2022
Gómez added that if Soto does not accept this final offer from the Nationals, he will likely be traded for the highest offer before the MLB trade deadline on August 2nd.
Soto’s future will likely have a lasting impact on not only the Nationals organization but a number of franchises that are interested in trading for the 23-year-old superstar.
The San Diego Padres look to be the favorites at this point to land Soto, but it could all be for not if the Nationals are able to convince him to stay in Washington moving forward.
Considering the massive contract that Soto already turned down from the Nationals, it looks unlikely that they will be able to get him to stay. If the Nationals do have to trade Soto, the organization may receive an unprecedented haul from a potential suitor, with reports that they are looking for “4 or 5 top players” that are either prospects or MLB players with low service time.
The clock is ticking on any team looking to trade for Soto, but teams may start to get more aggressive in their discussions with the Nationals moving forward if Soto yet again declines their final offer.
