The Washington Nationals dropped a bombshell over the weekend, when reports came out that they were willing to trade superstar RF Juan Soto after failed extension talks. The question that immediately comes to mind is whether or not the Miami Marlins should actually trade for him. Should the Miami Marlins trade for Juan Soto?
The Miami Marlins have a chance to make a franchise altering trade for Juan Soto.
The Washington Nationals don’t really want to trade Juan Soto. They would much rather build the team around him, with Soto as the franchise player and face of the team. The problem is that in two years the slugger will be a free agent, and considering Scott Boras is his agent and $400 million + contracts are not good enough for him, you can see the writing on the wall.
Juan Soto is a legitimate superstar and potential future Hall of Famer. He has a career 21.0 WAR and a .293/.427/.541 batting line at just 23 years of age. At his current pace, by the times that he’s 35, he should have around 69.0 WAR and most likely more. Barring injuries or an early decline, he should be a Hall of Famer.
So should the Miami Marlins trade for Juan Soto? The price to trade for him with a division rival is going to be huge. We can reasonably expect Washington to ask for Max Meyer, Edward Cabrera, Eury Perez, Kahlil Watson and more. The trade would decimate our farm system, while pushing Washington’s to become one of the top ones in the game.
Is Juan Soto going to help the Miami Marlins enough to warrant trading for him? The Fish will be more likely to make the playoffs (depending on other transactions of course), but those other transactions will be needed to turn us into contenders.
The final question is how long Juan Soto will be on the team? Will the Miami Marlins pay him a record-setting contract? If not, then is acquiring him the missing piece to a deep postseason run?
I think that the Miami Marlins shouldn’t empty out the farm for anyone, and helping a division rival reload theirs is not a very wise move. If we’re willing to pay him what he wants, then let’s just wait until he’s a free agent.