How Could the Philadelphia Phillies Acquire Juan Soto?

Do the Philadelphia Phillies have what it takes to acquire one of the game's best in Juan Soto?

Alex Carr | Jul 18, 2022

In this story:

Philadelphia Phillies

The Boston Red Sox never traded Ted Williams. Tony Gwynn was a San Diego Padre for all 20 years of his career. The Los Angeles Angels steadfastly refuse to deal Mike Trout. Yet, for some reason, the Washington Nationals are open to trading the best hitter baseball has seen in decades.

Soto, who is still just 23-years-old, is on pace to be one of the greatest offensive performers of all time. His accomplishments at such a young age are almost unfathomable, and he has yet to reach any semblance of his prime. The fact that Washington is even entertaining the idea of trading him is, frankly, embarrassing.

Obviously, whatever team acquires Soto is going to have to mortgage a good portion of their future. He isn't due to be a free agent for another two-and-a-half years, so whatever you think the Nationals' asking price will be, double it. He is going to cost the respective organization any and all of their young talent, but that team will be rewarded with a hitter who defies all of baseball's norms, and has done so with hardly any lineup protection over the last five years.

This then begs the question: do the Phillies have what it takes to make a play for the superstar?

Juan Soto stands in the on-deck circle at Nationals Park. — Juan Soto stands in the on-deck circle at Nationals Park / © Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The Cost:

The Phillies have seen a good portion of their top-end talent recognized among the best prospects in the sport. All of Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, Logan O'Hoppe, and Griff McGarry have ascended to top-100 prospect status, and newly drafted Justin Crawford, as well as Johan Rojas, Ben Brown, and Hao-Yu Lee are on the brink of that same recognition.

Philadelphia has also seen a couple of their MLB-ready talents take substantial steps forward in 2022, as Bryson Stott and Matt Vierling look to have found their footing at the big league level of late. Alec Bohm has also made strides, but his position-less nature makes him a bit less valuable.

All of these names and more would be fair game in a Juan Soto trade. In fact, if the Phillies wanted a realistic shot at Soto, they would probably have to part with five or six of the aforementioned players at minimum.

There is no true "fair" package for a player like Soto, but the best the Phillies could do would probably look something like this:

Phillies receive: Juan Soto

Nationals receive: Andrew Painter, Mick Abel, Griff McGarry, Justin Crawford (unable to be traded until post-World-Series), Johan Rojas, and Bryson Stott.

Why yes, that is a lot.

This seems like a relatively reasonable skeleton for a Soto deal. The fact of the matter is, there aren't many pitching prospect trios in baseball that can top a package of Painter, Abel, and McGarry. The Nationals would immediately assemble their rotation of the future, as well as acquire a promising potential star in Justin Crawford, a risky but exciting prospect in Johan Rojas, and a desperately needed MLB-ready infielder in Bryson Stott.

This package in particular sets the Nationals up to be competitive in the next two or three years, and provides them with a fair amount of MLB talent in the meanwhile.

Who Says No?

In short, the Phillies. They finally have a top-end of their farm system to be proud of, and they've already locked their superstar right fielder up for 13 years. Yes, a team should always be willing to acquire one of the game's greatest, but Soto doesn't exactly carry an inspiring glove. Plus, the Phillies already have four or five possible designated hitter candidates on their roster for the next four years.

In addition to prospect cost, whichever team does trade for Soto will need a substantial amount of payroll flexibility, as they'll also look to sign him to a 15-or-so year mega extension likely valued over the $500 million mark. The way the Phillies' payroll is structured, that kind of additional money might be hard to take on.

Could They?

Yes, they probably could. Will they? No, they probably won't.

There are other teams out there that make far more sense than the Phillies to acquire Soto. The Yankees for one have a ballpark that Soto would demolish, and certainly have the prospect capital to make something happen. The Dodgers have a seemingly unending stream of talent, and have already pulled off this level of trade once before when they acquired Mookie Betts from the Boston Red Sox. The Cardinals, Giants, Padres, Blue Jays, and a multitude of others could also be in play. It would be a shocking turn of events if the Nationals actually considered a package from the New York Mets.

There should be a zero-percent chance that the Nationals will deal Juan Soto intra-divisionally.

It was different when the Nationals allowed Bryce Harper to walk in free agency - he had the chance to end up with any team, and it just so happened that team was within the National League East. It would be organizational malpractice to purposefully trade the player that could have been the face of your franchise, your all-time great, one of the best to ever do it, to a contending team within the division.

In summary, the biggest mistake the Washington Nationals franchise could ever make would be trading away one of the most complete offensive performers the game has ever seen. They already let one future Hall of Famer walk in Bryce Harper, but to forcibly push another out the door is a whole different ballgame.

Regardless, it appears to be something they are considering, and every single major league club will be in on the dealings.

It is a very, very long shot, but the Phillies have the prospect firepower to be in the 'Soto Sweepstakes'. Whether or not they'll seriously pursue him remains to be seen, but it sure would be tempting to see the pair of Soto and Harper team up again, this time in red pinstripes.

More From SI's Inside The Phillies:

Make sure to follow Inside the Phillies on Substack and Twitter!

Published Jul 18, 2022

ALEX CARR

Alex Carr is a writer, editor, and podcast host for Sports Illustrated and FanNation's 'Inside The Phillies'. Previously, his work has been featured on SBNation's 'TheGoodPhight'. He/him.