Nationals' Juan Soto Won't Be Traded Despite Rumors, Agent Scott Boras Says

The Washington Nationals sold off many of their top players last season and have started this campaign just 13-26, so it wouldn't be shocking if they reprised their role of sellers. 

Just don't expect Juan Soto to be one of the departing players. 

 "Forget Soto trade ... not happening," his agent, Scott Boras, told Jon Heyman of the New York Post. 

And one person within the Nats' organization simply responded to Heyman, "That's not funny," regarding the Soto trade speculation.

It shouldn't come as much of a surprise that the Nationals wouldn't want to deal the 23-year-old Soto, one of the game's brightest young superstars. He finished as the runner-up in the NL Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 and has finished top-10 in NL MVP voting in each of the past three seasons. 

This season he's hitting .250 with eight homers, 11 RBI, 26 runs and a .864 OPS in 39 games. While that production is below his normal pace (he slashed .313/.465/.534 last season and .351/.490/.695 in 47 games in 2020), he remains one of the most dangerous players at the plate. 

He's also under club control through the 2024 season, so there's little reason for the Nationals to move him now. 

If he were to be put on the trade market, a number of teams would surely be willing to pay an enormous price for the young game-changer, who already helped lead the Nationals to a World Series title in 2019. The Nationals could restock their farm system with one deal. 

The issue, of course, is that any prospect they got in return is unlikely to ever be as good as Soto. Superstars aren't easy to come by, and Soto is still very young—rebuilding around him makes more sense, especially if he's willing to ultimately commit to the team via a long-term extension.