Don't Count Out the Padres in the Juan Soto Sweepstakes

Maren Angus-Coombs | Nov 22, 2024

Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

The competition for Juan Soto is intensifying.

Five teams — the New York Mets, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Dodgers, Boston Red Sox, and Toronto Blue Jays — have reportedly already met with Soto and his agent, Scott Boras, to make their initial pitches. The Philadelphia Phillies are set to meet with Soto soon, and other teams may join the mix as well.

But don't count out the San Diego Padres.

Jim Bowden of The Athletic thinks the Padres have shot at a reunion with the outfielder but they are on the outside looking in.

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"If the late Peter Seidler hadn’t gotten ill, he might have completed a long-term contract to keep Soto in San Diego," Bowden wrote. "However, that would assume Soto wasn’t focused on reaching free agency and he showed otherwise. It’s unlikely the Padres’ current ownership team would be willing to put another huge long-term contract on the books at this point, but I will never bet against A.J. Preller pulling off a surprise move."

According to Boras, Soto would never have left the San Diego Padres if the team's owner, Seidler, had not passed away from cancer in 2023.

“If [Padres owner] Peter Seidler were still alive, none of this would be happening,” Boras told USA Today in an interview. “Juan would have been with the Padres. He never would have been traded to the Yankees.”

Everything points to the Dominican outfielder securing one of the largest contracts in sports history. The current "floor" for his deal is around $500 million, and while the Yankees and Dodgers are seen as frontrunners, the Mets and Blue Jays are also in the mix for his services.

However, as Boras suggests, there’s a scenario where the four-time All-Star never even left San Diego.

“Peter [Seidler] and I were knee-deep in Juan Soto [contract] discussions,” Boras said. “Well advanced. His illness really stopped the process because we knew the organization would be different. He wanted to push it through even though he was ill.”

“I have a text message from [Seidler] four days before he died, ‘Be back online real quick,’” Boras said. 

The Padres have been competing with their late owner on their hearts and if this was the plan, Preller might try to make Seidler's wishes come true.

“Peter was not trading Juan Soto. No way. He kept saying, ‘I traded for a franchise. I’m not giving him up.’ He couldn’t believe [the Nationals] traded Juan Soto. He loved Juan,” Boras said.

The Padres went 93-69 in 2024 after trading Soto away. It wouldn't surprise anyone if the always-aggressive Preller made a surprise move to try to bring him back.

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