As if the idea of trading Juan Soto isn’t dubious enough from a baseball perspective, it’s difficult to believe Nationals’ ownership would part with the modern-day version of Ted Williams as one of their final acts before selling the team.
The Lerner family nixed a deal to send Bryce Harper to the Astros at the 2018 trade deadline, even though the Nationals were below .500 and Harper was two months away from free agency. If the Lerners were reluctant to trade a franchise player under those circumstances, why would they approve a trade of Soto before it is necessary?
Perhaps the Lerners will identify a buyer before this year’s deadline, which is more than 10 weeks away. Well, the new owner might want the chance to re-sign Soto, even though the slugger’s agent, Scott Boras, almost certainly would prefer to explore his full market value in free agency. At the very least, the new owner might want to build around Soto, who is under club control for the rest of this season and then two more.
Multiple baseball people familiar with ownership changes said Wednesday a team in the Nationals’ position generally should do what is best for the organization, as if a sale was not even taking place. Still, each situation is different. It’s not as if there is a clear blueprint for the Nationals to follow.
In 2011, former Dodgers owner Frank McCourt signed Matt Kemp to an eight-year, $160 million extension shortly after reaching an agreement with Major League Baseball to sell the club. More recently, the Guardians signed Jose Ramírez to a five-year, $124 million extension with the sale of a minority interest and path to full control of the club pending. But club officials were fully prepared to trade Ramírez if they could not come to an agreement on a contract.
Signing Soto, 23, to an extension is quite obviously what is best for the Nationals. A new owner might want to play hero, even if it would mean capitulating to Boras, who would be more than happy to “educate” a potential new “partner.” Surely, a new owner would not want to message to Nationals fans that the team is essentially cooked for the next several years, even though in actuality, the team’s rebuilding plan might take at least that long.