Baseball’s winter meetings are about to begin and, outside of Shohei Ohtani’s fate, most of the speculation is focused on Juan Soto.
Will the Padres trade him? And to whom? Can they even afford to keep him?
And what might they get in return – prospects, pitching, more – if they do pull the trigger? Or do they wait?
A trade is considered a near certainty if one taps into the rumor mill leading up to the meetings, which open Sunday in Nashville. Or the Padres might simply be testing the market, “to start finding out what he’d fetch in a trade,” as MLB.com put it.
The outfielder, who the Padres obtained from the Washington Nationals in a blockbuster mid-season 2022 trade, is a much-sought after commodity at just 25. He had a career-high 35 homers, 109 RBIs and 132 walks last year and won the Silver Slugger for the fourth time in his six years in the big leagues.
And for an idea of the market for him – in 2022, he was reported to have rejected a 15-year extension with the Nationals worth $440 million, which set the trade to the Padres in motion.
The Friars, with huge contracts already committed to Xander Bogaerts, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., have little wiggle room and big needs, starting with pitching.
They’ve already lost Nick Martinez, who signed with the Cincinnati Reds, and Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell, top closer Josh Hader, and starters Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha, are free agents too.
A.J. Preller, the Padres’ president of baseball operations, with the hiring of new manager Mike Shildt behind him, made it clear what his task was in the weeks ahead of the meetings in Nashville, which conclude Wednesday. He’s kept his thoughts on Soto close to the vest.
“Our group is identifying players and pitchers,” he told MLB.com. “That’s what the next few weeks are about – is looking to add starters and depth, so Mike has a lot of options.”
