We’re a week away from one of the biggest blockbusters in MLB history, the deal that aired Juan Soto and Josh Bell from the Nationals to the Padres for five youngsters and the first baseman Luke Voit. ESPN’s Jeff Passan takes a long look at the process that eventually led to the deal in an article worth reading in full.
A Soto trade seemed unfathomable about a month before the deadline and Washington general manager Mike Rizzo flatly stated the club would not sell him. That was before Soto passed on a $440 million 15-year renewal offer that appeared to be the Nationals’ final offer. At this point, Rizzo and his associates reversed course and turned their attention to the trading market. Passan writes that the Nationals have identified the Padres, Dodgers, Yankees, Cardinals, Mariners, Rays, Rangers and Blue Jays as a tentative list of teams with the kind of young talent to close a deal.
According to Passan, the Nats had reduced that to a trio of Cardinals, Dodgers and Padres by the last week of July. With St. Louis reportedly being reluctant to take in Dylan Carlson In a package that also included a number of top prospects, Los Angeles and San Diego became the final two. Passan shares that the highers of San Diego and Washington really picked up momentum late into the evening of August 1st, the night before the close. A late entrant to the discussions was the inclusion of Bell, one of the best rental clubs available, to persuade the brothers to part ways with the high-profile 18-year-old pitcher Jarlin Susana. In the middle of the night of Aug. 1, Passan reports, the parties agreed on the young talent package to be shipped back to Washington pending medical records review the following morning. (Passan adds the humorous anecdote that San Diego baseball operations president AJ Preller then worked late into the night on additional trading opportunities before falling asleep in the middle of a conversation with a member of his scouting team).
While the deal’s initial iteration was included Eric Hosmer When he went to Washington, the first baseman exercised his limited no-trade protection to block the deal. San Diego pivoted and traded Hosmer to the Red Sox, and Passan writes that San Diego and Washington had each previously agreed that one of Voit or Wil Meyers could take Hosmer’s place if he refused to waive his no-trade clause.
“We did the best we could,” Rizzo told Passan. “You lost a Hall of Famer at 23, but I think we’ve accelerated our restart. If you look at the alternative, the same narrative would have been out there this winter. If you don’t trade him now, what are you going to do in the off-season? I trust the Padres to own it. And I have confidence in AJ because he’s not afraid to make a trade like that. And I give credit to our possessions.”
Preller detailed his team’s involvement in the Soto talks in an appearance this afternoon The show, a New York Post podcast featuring Jon Heyman and Joel Sherman. The San Diego baseball operations manager confirmed that the Nationals identified his system as one of a few that could support a blockbuster of this magnitude early in the process.
“We could tell we would be one of the last teams if we wanted to participate,” Preller told the Post. “You never know if you’re going to be the team. It’s like everything else, there will be two or three teams that all have really strong packages. … Over the next few weeks there was just a lot of debate and discussion for us about the right thing, the right players, to quit.”
As the sides neared an agreement on the potential return, the onus was on San Diego to get the deal across the finish line, Preller explains. “In the end you have to make a decision. do you want this or not That’s sort of the gut check at the end when the Nats put it on you: “This five or six player package makes it possible.” Then you come back into the room with your small group and (owner) Peter Seidler. It’s on the table if we want to do that. And if we don’t, ultimately we have to live with the fact that he might go somewhere else. … At the end of the day, you have to make that decision.”
Apparently, Preller and his group opted to pull the trigger, although he indicated the club was not solely focused on a Soto deal. Preller confirmed to the Post that San Diego is involved in talks with the Angels Shhei Ohtani. He said there is some, but not complete, overlap in the youngsters of interest to both Washington and Anaheim, but hinted the Angels are ultimately unwilling to part ways with Ohtani. Heyman reported last week that Angels owner Arte Moreno would not sign an Ohtani trade until then Mike Trout is on the injured list.
Padres fans and/or anyone interested in more details on the San Diego trade talks should watch Preller’s interview with Heyman and Sherman in full. Preller also discussed the need to balance a roster with starting talent and depth, the All-Star Relief acquisition Josh Hader from the Brewers, plans for a rehab star Fernando Tatis Jr.and his team’s struggles against the Dodgers, among other topics.