Padres Would Be Foolish to Give Up Juan Soto amid Latest MLB Trade Rumors
The San Diego Padres played the 2023 MLB season with a sky-high payroll (the third-richest in baseball, per Spotrac) and the enormous expectations you'd expect to be attached to it.
Yet, the whole of their star-studded roster never even came close to the sum of its parts. The Padres barely finished above .500 (82-80) and failed to snag a playoff spot.
When the gap between expectations and results is this wide, it typically leads to substantial offseason changes. That could be what happens in San Diego this winter.
The Padres "need to cut money," per Jon Heyman of the New York Post, and are apparently so determined to shed dollars that they "are listening" on trade pitches for star slugger Juan Soto.
That would be a massive mistake for San Diego to make.
He Is a Cornerstone Talent—and Can Still Get Better
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This was a frustrating season in San Diego for a lot of reasons, but Soto wasn't one of them.
The 25-year-old seemed, as per usual, two steps ahead of any pitcher he faced and routinely mashed. He suffered through a few cold spells, but when he was hot, he was scorching.
He played 162 games for the first time and used them to tally a career-best 35 home runs. His 12 stolen bases matched his personal-best, and his 109 RBI were the second-most of his career. He was an All-Star for the third consecutive season and captured his fourth straight Silver Slugger.
And, again, he's all of 25 years old and won't turn 26 until October. This could be just the beginning of a legendary career, and the Padres should absolutely want to remain a part of it.
There Are Other Ways to Trim Payroll
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The Padres can get cheaper this offseason simply by doing nothing.
If they did nothing beyond letting Blake Snell and Josh Hader walk, that alone would get $30.7 million off the books. And they are far from the only free agents on this roster who made a big chunk of change this past season.
If San Diego decides free agency subtractions aren't enough, it could try testing the trade market for some of its other high-priced players. You know, players who aren't 25-year-old centerpieces.
Manny Machado, Xander Bogaerts and Fernando Tatís Jr. are all on contracts that will pay them $280 million-plus. Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish have their own nine-figure deals. While the money they're owed will hurt their trade value, doing a discounted deal for one of these players still seems like the far superior option than letting go of Soto and losing out on a possible Hall of Fame player.
The Padres Can Move Soto Later If They Deem It Necessary
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There's a simple reason Soto's name has popped up on the trade rumor mill. He's slated for free agency after the 2024 season.
And while no one can say for certain exactly how much his next contract will be worth, let's just say it wouldn't exactly lend itself toward a cost-cutting strategy.
Again, though, he is a premier talent, so if he's worth the money, then it's hard to pinpoint his deal as the one dragging down this payroll.
Even if the Padres are less than bullish about their chances of keeping him past next season, they don't have to deal him now. His trade value will be high whenever he's exposed to the market. So, San Diego's best move—short of extending Soto—is likely giving this group another chance to compete, and if things are really going south once next season's deadline rolls around, then and only then should a Soto trade be remotely considered.
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