Slugger Juan Soto of the New York Yankees is already on his third team, even though he is one of the best young players in MLB.
Soto stated that he had hoped to play his whole career with his original team, the Washington Nationals, in an interview with Chris Kirschner of The Athletic.
“Yes, absolutely. Soto declared, “I never wanted to leave Washington.” “That group was excellent. From the bottom to the top, everyone there was someone I knew. It felt like home to me, and I was truly at ease. I felt content. In Washington, I owned a home. Up there, I felt completely at ease.”
2018 saw Soto make his Major League Baseball debut with Washington. He quickly established himself as an influential player, winning the National League Rookie of the Year award that year. In the seven-game series against the Houston Astros the following year, he hit.333 with three home runs and seven RBI, helping lead the Nationals to their first World Series championship in team history. He was the NL hitting champion in 2020.
During the 2022 trade deadline, the Nationals sent first baseman Josh Bell and Soto to the San Diego Padres for six players, making it one of the biggest trade hauls in MLB history. Since winning the World Series, Washington has finished last in the NL East in each of the previous four seasons.
Regarding the deal, Soto remarked, “They made that decision out of nowhere.” “They believed it to be optimal for the group. Simply said, I appreciated it since they were quite upfront with me. One of the things about (general manager Mike) Rizzo that I truly appreciated was that. He was very explicit about the trade details. However, I never did imagine that I would move out of D.C. I genuinely believed that I would remain there for the duration of my career.”
Soto was acquired by the Yankees from the Padres in December. Before hitting free agency in the offseason, he will make $31 million this season. Undoubtedly, New York is expecting that a possible one-year rental of Soto leads to the team’s first World Series victory since 2009.
