Padres Rumors: MLB Insider Believes Juan Soto Will Still Be Traded This Offseason

Another day, another Juan Soto rumor!

Another day, and another Juan Soto trade rumor. It has become the talk of the baseball world, and we all wait patiently to see what the San Diego Padres will do with their star outfielder.

MLB Network reporter David Vassegh believes that Soto will eventually get traded this offseason and that multiple teams are lining up deals to land him.

"I think he gets traded. The Padres can't come out and say they're going to trade them, that'll just kill their leverage. The Red Sox and Yankees are both being very aggressive behind the scenes trying to put together a package that would be appealing to the Padres who are looking for not just minor league players, they're looking for really good minor league players that are major league ready. It's a public report now they had to borrow money after the RSN folded on them during the year. Soto has one year left on his contract. Some would say they were not enamored with the way he played start to finish. So it just seems like he is going to be traded."

Per MLB Network insider David Vassegh

The reports seem to be getting more concrete about the team looking to deal the star player. Even if a trade is slow-moving, the smart would appear to be the Padres trading Soto this offseason.

His value will never be as high as it is right now, since he has a full year left on his contract. And if the team decides to keep him through the trade deadline, they run the risk of him getting injured or having a down first part of the season.

Moving him this winter would allow the Padres to move on and start fresh. While Soto wasn’t the problem for the Padres struggles this past season, he doesn’t seem to be in their long-term plans financially.

The team has wanted to shed salary after their all-in approach blew up in their face, and Soto looks like the causality of that. They haven't seemed willing to give him the type of financial commitment that it would take to retain him long-term, so moving him may be the best course of action.

Things like this are always fluid, especially during the offseason, so this will be interesting to watch play out. San Diego knows that they are a better team with Soto, but their hand could still be forced to move him this winter.