Washington Nationals Named ‘Realistic Threat’ To Steal Yankees Star in Free Agency
The Washington Nationals won only 71 games during the 2024 season, matching their total from the 2023 campaign.
Despite that, they are a team that everyone is keeping an eye on with the MLB offseason underway. That is because their general manager, Mike Rizzo, has made it clear that they are ready to spend to upgrade the roster.
Since winning the World Series in 2019, the team has not sniffed the postseason. Their 71 victories in back-to-back seasons are the most in the last five years.
With Patrick Corbin hitting free agency this winter, there currently isn’t a single player from that championship team on the roster.
Alas, that could change depending on how free agency shakes out, as the Nationals are going to make a run at outfielder Juan Soto.
He was a key part of the team’s magical run five years ago. In 2022, they traded him to the San Deigo Padres for a haul of prospects who are now making up their intriguing core; All-Star shortstop CJ Abrams, starting pitcher MacKenzie Gore and left fielder James Wood.
The Padres traded him to the New York Yankees ahead of the 2024 campaign and all he did was cement his status as one of the best baseball players in the world.
Soto may break records with the contract he is going to sign this offseason. Some projections have him easily surpassing $500 million in total value and breaking Shohei Ohtani’s record for AAV.
With a ton of money to spend, Zachary D. Rymer of Bleacher Report has named Washington one of the most realistic threats to steal the star outfielder away from the New York Yankees.
However, there are certainly some obstacles that the Nationals would have to overcome. How much above the $440 million offer they made a few years ago to him, which is worth about $470 million now with inflation, are they willing to go?
It will take a lot more than that, potential $100 million+, to be in the race. The cost of living in Washington is also a detriment; a similar problem that the San Francisco Giants have to lure free agents to their team.
But, the Nationals have something that no one other than the Yankees and San Diego, if they got in the bidding, can offer; familiarity. Soto loved his time in the nation’s capital and he would fill several needs the franchise currently as.
A reunion is something the Nationals would love to have; does Soto feel the same way? We will find out in the coming weeks.
