Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto is making headlines. He won the 2022 Home Run Derby, and he also might not be National much longer.
With news dropping just before the All-Star break that there was an impasse in contract extension negotiations with the Nationals, who were now willing to discuss possible trade scenarios for Soto. This comes only weeks after their General Manager Mike Rizzo said he would not consider trading the Nationals’ star outfielder. In light of all of this, what could the Juan Soto trade sweepstakes represent for the Toronto Blue Jays?
We can start with a fairly simple, but quite important question, what does Juan Soto represent? Well, since breaking into the major leagues in 2018 at the age of 19 he has experienced the highs of winning a world series in 2019 and the lows of the Nationals’ residence in the basement of the National League East in each season since. Throughout all of this, he has been one the better hitters in all of major league baseball and inspired comparisons to Red Sox great Ted Williams due to his elite on-base skills.
Now those comparisons to Ted Williams may be a bit much. He certainly had a Williams-esque season during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, slashing (BA/OBP/SLG) .351/.490/.695 all of which led the league, as did his 217 OPS+ (which takes on-base and slugging percentage and adjusts them for league conditions, with a score of 100 representing league average). This compa …
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Author: Noah Vande / Blue Jays Nation
