Washington Nationals Named Among Top Suitors to Reunite with Superstar
The Washington Nationals are going to head into the offseason with quite a few needs to address.
Heading into Saturday's MLB action, the Nationals hold a 55-68 record. They have some good young talent, but could really use some star power for the 2025 season if they want to get back to winning.
One potential option could be reuniting with a former superstar in MLB free agency.
Juan Soto is set to hit the open free agency market and is expected to command a monstrous contract. At 25 years old, he's going to be the type of free agent that can completely change the outlook of a team's future. That's exactly what Washington needs.
Of course, the two sides have been together before. The first time around, things did not end very well between the two parties. However, the Nationals have been linked as a potential suitor for him.
MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post recently took a look at the top 11 potential suitors for Soto this offseason. He placed Washington at No. 9.
Many believe that Soto will end up re-signing with the New York Yankees, but he could potentially be enticed to leave.
During the 2024 MLB season with the Yankees so far, Soto has played in 119 games. He has hit 34 home runs to go along with 87 RBI, while slashing .305/.436/.610.
Those numbers show exactly why so many teams are going to have interest in signing him.
ESPN took a poll of 28 MLB executives recently and the numbers that came up as likely for a Soto contract were huge. It has been projected that Soto will command anywhere from $50 million for one year to $655 million over 10 years. Their average of all projections was a deal worth $482.5 million over 11.6 years.
While that is massive money, Soto is still young and should be in his prime throughout an entire 10-year deal. Teams aren't signing an older player to a contract that will see that player fall off in the final three or four years.
If the Nationals are a team that Soto would consider, they should absolutely go after him. Even though things didn't end well the first time around, he would give Washington a very good shot of getting back on track.
Don't expect the Nationals to end up getting Soto this offseason, but they're a team to keep an eye on.
