In today's mailbag, we get into the Nationals' needs, the Cardinals' situations with Nolans Arenado and Gorman, how the Cubs might approach the offseason, whether Robbie Ray will opt out, and much more.
Kevin asks:
The Nats have a lot of talented youngsters ready to join the team but opening the window will require some veterans. Should they: Make us whole and try to sign Juan Soto, use that money to hire two or three solid veterans, or try several shorter term contracts because the window will really first open in 2026?
Soto returning to the Nats is an intriguing idea. A lot of the best free agent signings have been for young superstars, though it's unclear whether the Nationals would offer even more than the $440MM Soto turned down two years ago. Nationals GM Mike Rizzo has said he made three offers to Soto within a year, and none of them were countered. Since then, the Lerners decided not to sell the Nationals, so you could say there's more certainty with ownership.
One question is whether the Lerners will return to the days of a top-ten payroll. I don't know the answer to that, but they have almost nothing on the books after this year aside from the Stephen Strasburg contract.
As it relates to Soto, it's worth asking whether the Nationals committing to an outfielder is a good use of resources. A Hall of Fame talent like Soto would be a great addition to any team, but if James Wood, Dylan Crews, and Robert Hassell III all become productive Major League outfielders as the Nationals expect, something would have to give.
Here's a look around the diamond to assess what the Nats might need:
Unlock Subscriber-Exclusive Articles Like This One With a Trade Rumors Front Office Subscription
- Access weekly subscriber-only articles by Tim Dierkes, Steve Adams, and Anthony Franco.
- Join exclusive weekly live chats with Anthony.
- Remove ads and support our writers.
- Access GM-caliber tools like our MLB Contract Tracker
Stephen Strasburg. 245mil for 1 win. I don’t think there will ever be a question about the worst contract ever. Strasburg was so injury prone to begin with, that contract made no sense to me from the onset.
The only silver lining to that contract is that they didn’t re-sign Rendon then as well.
Soto would not want to go for this but what about playing him at 1B with a potential long term move to DH? He is not adding much value with his defense in the OF
He actually isn’t that bad in the outfield in the Bronx
The Cardinals could have avoided a need to trade for Alcantara by not trading him in the first place. P.S. They traded away Zac Gallen in that deal too, lol.
Juan soto to the nationals or padres is not happening, I don’t think he would have the guts to go back to those places it’s either Yankees or mets
I’d have to think he stays in pinstripes, Juan Soto and Aaron judge would be just like Derek jeter and a-rod
He “lacks the guts”?!?
Could you see him returning after declining the 440 million offer? It was a bad offer but right when he declined it he got traded, wonder why
What does that have to do with any valid perception of “guts”?
He had a bad tenure in SD but he did won a World Series in DC. We would love to have him back
How do you turn down $440 million?
So he was offered $440MM over 15 years starting in 2023.
He ended up earning $54MM for 2023-24.
So, he was offered $386MM over 13 years, in terms of the free agency equivalent.
Most people think he’ll get at least $450MM this winter, quite possibly $500MM, and who knows if it could go beyond that.
I’d say you turn down $440MM when you expect to earn $100MM more than that over the same time period.
Money’s obviously relative, but we going to start seeing some John Klingberg, Jordan Montgomery sized mistakes out there.