Just two seasons after winning the World Series, the Washington Nationals made the decision to become sellers at the MLB trade deadline last year and sent superstars Trea Turner and Max Scherzer to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The club also traded Yan Gomes, Josh Harrison, Jon Lester, Kyle Schwarber, Daniel Hudson and Brad Hand prior to the deadline.
After all their trades, the Nationals were essentially just left with Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman as the only key contributors remaining from the championship team. They went on to go 18–42 to finish out the season, the worst 60-game stretch in club history.
The Nationals have yet to see the results of their trades pay off as they again are under .500 and mulling a Soto trade. While Soto is dealing with the trade speculation of what his future may hold, he recalled how much of a challenge it was to see all his teammates and close friends traded last season.
“It was pretty tough for me,” Soto said. “Not only them, but all my teammates have gotten traded and stuff like that. It was pretty tough, but at the same time I was happy for them because I knew they went to a competitive team that they could go all the way and win the World Series with.
“Didn’t happen, but I’m glad that they got to experience the playoffs and all that kind of stuff. I never think about what their experience was or anything like that, because like I said, I never expected myself to be in this situation.”
Although his future with the Nationals is clouded, Soto did reconnect with Turner, who is one of his closest friends in the game, and tried to recruit the All-Star shortstop back to Washington D.C. “He’s happy where he’s at, but I really tried my best to get him back,” he said.
Like Soto, Turner’s future is also not clear as he is set to reach free agency after the season. The 29-year-old will surely have a robust market of teams looking to pay him more than $300 million to join their roster.
While there is nearly no chance Turner and Soto end up reuniting again in D.C., there is a chance it could happen again in L.A., even if the chances are slim. The Dodgers are among the teams interest in acquiring Soto and general manager Brandon Gomes said the team will be opportunistic in the negotiations.
Trea Turner: Juan Soto learning ‘business side’ of MLB
Soto trade rumors have been the talk of baseball since it was reported the Nationals would consider offers after he declined a 15-year, $440 million contract extension even though the outfielder preferred for contract negotiations to remain private.
The news of him declining their offer was made public during 2022 All-Star Week Los Angeles and likely came from the front office to show their fans they made an effort to sign him. Turner believes this has helped teach the 23-year-old the business component of playing in the Major Leagues.
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