Juan Soto Trade Rumors: MLB Execs, Agents Expect Padres Star to Be 'Attainable'

Amid rumors the San Diego Padres are going to drastically reduce their payroll for the 2024 season, Juan Soto is emerging as an obvious trade candidate heading into his final year of arbitration.

Per ESPN's Alden Gonzalez, several MLB executives and agents are "under the impression that Soto will be attainable" in a trade this offseason.

At the very least, according to Gonzalez, Padres general manager A.J. Preller "will very much be open to the conversation" of dealing the three-time All-Star.

Near the end of the regular season, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the Padres' plan for 2024 is to have payroll commitments close to the $200 million mark.

Per Spotrac, the Padres currently have $146.9 million in salary commitments before factoring in all of their arbitration and pre-arb players. Xander Bogaerts is their highest-paid player with a $25.4 million salary next season.

Soto will almost certainly beat that figure with his 2024 salary. MLB Trade Rumors projects he will earn $33 million in arbitration. The 25-year-old made $23 million in 2023.

The current salary record for an arbitration-eligible player is the $30 million Shohei Ohtani got from the Los Angeles Angels last season.

Earlier this week, USA Today's Bob Nightengale reported there was a thought among some general managers that Soto might actually have "more value at the trade deadline than moving him now."

It's an interesting thought because conventional logic would suggest teams would give up more now to acquire Soto and get a full year of control, instead of waiting until July when he will only be on the team for two months before hitting free agency.

This would also seem like a good offseason to put a player of Soto's caliber on the market because the well of free-agent position players dries up quickly.

After Ohtani and Cody Bellinger at the top, the best available position player is probably Matt Chapman. The 30-year-old had the second-lowest OPS (.755) and OPS+ (108) of his career in 2023 with the Toronto Blue Jays.

If the Padres want to save money and replenish their farm system, Soto would likely have the most value of any player they would consider moving. He hit .275/.410/.519 with 35 homers and 109 RBI in 162 games last season.