Juan Soto Offseason Trade Shouldn't Be Pursued by Padres amid Latest MLB Rumors

The San Diego Padres may find themselves in a difficult position during the Major League Baseball offseason.

Juan Soto will be the subject of trade talks because he is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2024 season.

The Padres could offload Soto in the offseason, or they could make a run at the World Series after a disappointing 2023 campaign.

The Athletic's Chris Kirschner reported on the Soto situation last week while mentioning the New York Yankees as an ideal trade target.

"A league source briefed on the situation told The Athletic that if the Padres were to move him, doing so at the trade deadline would be more likely than this offseason, as the Padres would have a better idea of their playoff chances and whether they have a chance of extending him." Kirschner wrote.

San Diego would be doing the right thing by holding on to Soto given its World Series aspirations and the state of the National League West.

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers achieved far more success than the Padres in 2023.

However, Los Angeles will still have some pitching issues in 2024 because it has a handful of starting pitchers dealing with long-term elbow injuries. Arizona only finished two games ahead of San Diego in the NL West standings before it made its World Series run.

The Padres have the talent to overtake the two-game gap to the D-Backs, and if they live up to their full potential, they could get closer to the Dodgers.

Of course, the failure to live up to the team's potential got San Diego in this predicament.

The Padres went from the NLCS after they acquired Soto and Josh Hader in blockbuster trades in 2022 to not making the playoffs in 2023.

Hader and Blake Snell could depart in free agency this offseason, but the Padres will not lose any significant bats unless they make a trade.

They can go into the 2024 season with Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr; Xander Bogaerts and Manny Machado all healthy in the lineup.

San Diego can add depth pieces around them in the order, and it can revamp its pitching staff as its main offseason focus.

Losing Snell would be a blow to the team, but the Padres still have two ace-caliber pitchers in Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish on the roster. The Padres can add a No. 3 or No. 4 starter to the mix and they can replace Hader from within.

The majority of the pieces are in place for the Padres to have a successful 2024 campaign.

That should motivate the Padres to keep Soto and for the outfielder to remain in place instead of moving to the New York Yankees or another franchise with plenty of roster flaws.

If nothing works out for San Diego in 2024, it can use the month of July to work out an ideal return for Soto while allowing him to chase a title before free agency in the offseason.

San Diego owes it to itself as a franchise to not give up on its costly experiment with Soto and other stars this offseason to make one more run to prove that it can or can't win with abundance of stars on the roster.