Seattle Mariners: Making the deal for Juan Soto
Ed Stein
|
After declining a mega contract extension from Washington, outfielder Juan Soto is on the trade block. The Seattle Mariners have the young talent and money available to make a deal.
Last week, outfielder Juan Soto turned down a 15-year, $440M contract extension from the Washington Nationals. Subsequently, Washington said they would listen to trade offers for the 23-year-old superstar. The Seattle Mariners are in a prime position to make a deal for this generational talent.
According to Bob Nightengale of USA Today, the Seattle Mariners have already reached out to Washington.
The Washington #Nats have begun fielding preliminary offers for Juan Soto, with seven teams already weighing in, including 3 in the NL West:#Mariners#Padres#SFGiants#Dodgers#STLCards#Yankees#Mets.
The trade deadline is Aug. 2, but Nats will wait unless get the right deal— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 21, 2022
Making a trade of this magnitude would gut Seattle’s prized minor league system. any M’s fans who will balk at the high price General Manager Jerry Dipoto would pay to get Soto. But this is a generational talent who is only 23 and under team control through the end of 2024.
Expert opinions
Here is a sample of what it will cost the Seattle Mariners to acquire Soto, according to pundits across the web.
Jeff Passan – ESPN
Recently Passan was on ESPN 710 with Mike Salk. This is what he said the M’s are looking at if they want Soto.
“It would cost Noelvi Marte, Emerson Hancock, Edwin Arroyo, Jarred Kelenic and Matt Brash – I think that’s the size of the package, and maybe even more than that.”
Jim Bowden – The Athletic
As a former MLB general manager, Bowden knows what it takes to pull off a big deal like this. He wrote in The Athletic:
“They have the young starting pitchers to begin forming a Soto package with either prospect Emerson Hancock or rookie George Kirby. They could include outfielders Jarred Kelenic and Kyle Lewis in the deal. To close it, the Mariners might have to part with their best position-player prospect, shortstop Noelvi Marte.”
Christopher O’Dea – SoDo Mojo
Odea proposes the Mariners send Kelenic, Marte, Hancock, Levi Stoudt, Gabriel Gonzalez, and Malkar Perez to Washington.
Nick Aguilera – MLB.com
This is one of the more intriguing offers because it’s the only one that mentions M’s 2021 first round pick, Harry Ford. Aguilera’s offer is Kirby, Kelenic, Marte, Hancock, Ford, and Juan Pinto.
The PNWS proposal
While some of the pundits mention it, along with Soto, the Mariners will need to relieve Washington of some bad contracts. The two worst belong to starting pitchers Patrick Corbin ($23M in 2022, $24M in 2023, and $35M in 2024) and Steven Strasburg ($35M per season through 2026).
Since Strasberg is on the long-term injured list (again), Corbin would be the choice. Besides, the Mariners could use another starter. So here is my deal for Soto.
Seattle Mariners get:
- RF Juan Soto
- Patrick Corbin
Washington Nationals get (Mariners prospect ranking):
- Jarred Kelenic
- Emerson Hancock (3)
- Matt Brash (5)
- Noelvi Marte (1)
- Alberto Rodrguez (7)
- Taylor Trammell
- Levi Stoudt (6)
Points to Ponder
- If the Mariners are dealing away Marte, Dipoto should try hard to keep Arroyo.
- The Nats can have Hancock or Kirby, not both. Hancock probably has the bigger upside.
- Kyle Lewis, Mitch Haniger, Adam Frazier, and Luis Torrens are all negotiable.
- It would be nice if Dipoto could also wrangle “Boomstick” Nelson Cruz and his $12M salary from Washington.
- Would the Nats take a flier on Evan White?
Final thoughts
This is a strong proposal and also leaves some wiggle room to interchange players. Losing their first, third, fifth, sixth, and seventh-ranked prospects stings, as does the guy who was the number one prospect in baseball entering 2021.
That’s the price for a generational talent like Soto. It’s almost hard to fathom how dynamic a lineup of Ty France, Frazier, J.P. Crawford, Eugenio Suarez, Jesse Winker, Julio Gonzalez, Soto, Cal Raleigh, and either Haniger or Lewis would be.
This would be an all-in move for the M’s. Everything Dipoto built this farm system to be, has led to this point.
What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below.