Deep Playoff Run Could Prevent Washington Nationals Reunion with Superstar
Since the Washington Nationals won the World Series in 2019, they have gone five consecutive seasons missing the postseason and have really not even been close, finishing dead last in the division in four of the last five years.
Washington has become a franchise that is desperate for an injection of life after some tough years. With the No. 24 highest payroll in baseball, the team has money to spend entering an offseason in which there are some big names available. But no name is bigger than the one they traded away at the deadline in 2022, the man who led the charge in the 2019 miracle run in Nationals legend Juan Soto. At just 20 years old, Soto hit five home runs and 14 RBIs including three home runs in the World Series against the Houston Astros to bring Washington their first-ever championship.
Three years later, the team sent him to San Diego in a blockbuster and prior to this season, Soto was acquired by the Yankees in another big deal. Now, just weeks before he officially becomes a free agent and the Nationals having a chance to bring him home, Soto is having the kind of postseason that he produced in 2019 for New York and has brought the Yankees back to their first World Series since 2009. On Saturday night, Soto delivered a 10th inning three-run blast to put his team on top for good and defeat Cleveland in five games in the ALCS.
While the idea of Soto signing elsewhere and the Yankees letting him walk has seemed popular throughout the season, it's starting to feel like the longer this run goes, the more New York brass will be willing to go to him with a completely blank check and pay him whatever it takes to make him a Yankee for life. It's obvious that Soto loves playing for the team as well, which could factor in.
If the Nationals really do want to bring Soto back, surely he would at least be willing to listen to an offer. But bidding against the Yankees along with potentially Washington's division rival Mets and Phillies don't exactly make it incredibly likely for there to be a reunion. And of course, as Soto continues to rake on the big stage, his price is only going further up.
