The Washington Nationals are having no trouble finding interested teams for outfielder Juan Soto.
Seven teams have already reached out to the Nationals for preliminary talks about a Soto trade, according to Bob Nightengale of USA Today. Teams like the New York Yankees, New York Mets, and Los Angeles Dodgers are unsurprisingly mentioned as having talks with the Nats. The Seattle Mariners, San Diego Padres, St. Louis Cardinals, and San Francisco Giants have also had talks with the Nats. One of these teams had already been named as a potential frontrunner in Soto rumors.
The Washington #Nats have begun fielding preliminary offers for Juan Soto, with seven teams already weighing in, including 3 in the NL West:#Mariners#Padres#SFGiants#Dodgers#STLCards#Yankees#Mets.
The trade deadline is Aug. 2, but Nats will wait unless get the right deal— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 21, 2022
Nightengale notes that the Nationals do not feel that they must move Soto prior to the trade deadline if the right deal does not come along.
What these initial offers might have looked like is unknown, but any team is going to have to give up a huge amount of assets to even have a chance of acquiring Soto. Teams may also have to be prepared to take on a bad contract to get the outfielder.
Soto is available after turning down a 15-year contract offer from the Nationals worth $440 million. He remains under team control for two more seasons after 2022.
