At only 23 years old, Juan Soto has already established himself as one of Major League Baseball’s best hitters and drawn lofty comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams.
But despite all his talent, Soto is already the center of trade rumors as the rebuilding Washington Nationals could decide to maximize his value and move him sooner rather than later to avoid potentially losing the All-Star in free agency.
Though, Soto is not due to become a free agent until after the 2024 season. The Nationals traded two of their best players to the Los Angeles Dodgers last season when they dealt Trea Turner and Max Scherzer in exchange a package led by Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray.
Even without much indication the Nationals are open to a Soto trade, the Dodgers are sure to be connected if he truly does become available.
Turner, who was teammates with Soto when the Nationals won the World Series in 2019, said he would love to be reunited with the phenom on the Dodgers, according to Juan Toribio of MLB.com:
Someone asked Trea Turner if he wants to see Juan Soto wearing a #Dodgers uniform in the future. I'm sure you could guess what his answer was.
"I'll take him over here any day," he said. "I think if there's one person that I could play with again, for sure it would be him."
— Juan Toribio (@juanctoribio) May 23, 2022
If Turner and Soto were to join forces with the Dodgers, it would likely require the speedy shortstop to sign a contract extension in L.A. because he is a free agent after this season. The Nationals are also unlikely to trade Soto this year, short of an offer that any other team would be uncomfortable paying.
Turner has said he is open to re-signing with the Dodgers despite reports he wanted to return to the East Coast, but the two sides didn’t make much progress in contract talks before Opening Day.
It’s hard to envision a scenario where the Dodgers give out massive contracts to Turner and Soto after already paying Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman, plus the likely deals for Walker Buehler and Julio Urías in the next few years.
However, Soto and Turner are the type of impact players the Dodgers would at least consider breaking the bank for, so it can’t fully be ruled out, even if the scenario remains highly unlikely.
Can the Dodgers trade for Juan Soto?
The Nationals trading Soto in the near future is difficult to fathom, and so too is the Dodgers putting together a requisite package at this team.
It likely would require the team to part with multiple top prospects and some combination of Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Michael Busch, Andy Pages or Miguel Vargas.
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