It’s probably a pipe dream at this point, but we haven’t been able to shake the thought of seeing Juan Soto patrol the outfield at Fenway Park.
No, we’re not talking about the times he did it this season as a member of the New York Yankees. We believe it’s time the Boston Red Sox get back to their old ways and go big-game hunting, and there’s no bigger prize than the guy who turns 26 on the day he begins playing in his second World Series.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow should watch Yankees-Dodgers very closely because his next star might be out there.
Boston has been adamant that its goals have not changed in recent seasons, with finding a way to play baseball in October still serving as the top priority from ownership to the front office, to the coaching staff, to the players.
Soto, who will be a free agent at the conclusion of the Fall Classic, would help get that done.
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Soto has become a bit of a nomad lately, and we’ll get into that later, but the fact is that he elevates the floor and ceiling no matter where he goes. The Washington Nationals were a middling organization when Soto was finally called up on May 20, 2018. He helped them win the World Series less than two years later. The San Diego Padres acquired him at the trade deadline in 2022, and two months later, were in the National League Championship Series. The Yankees have been kind of a joke since 2009, but no one is laughing now that Soto is hitting directly in front of Aaron Judge in the World Series.
The Red Sox could obviously use someone with such an insane level of talent, but let’s not forget that all his experience also comes in a pretty short career to this point. Soto is just 26, which fits in with the young core currently being built in Boston.
Soto was 19 years, 207 days old when he debuted with the Nats, the same age Judge was when he started his sophomore year at Fresno State — still about two full years from being drafted. Judge, of course, was selected in the first round of the 2011 MLB Draft, which happened during the summer heading into Soto’s final year of middle school.
It’s patently ridiculous how young this guy is… so why has he been traded so much?
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Soto rejected some monumental money back in 2022, turning down a reported 15-year, $440 million extension with Washington. The Nationals wanted to defer some of that money, which made the deal far less appealing than it looked on paper and ultimately traded him to at least recoup something for a player they couldn’t afford. The Padres shipped him out last offseason because they’re currently operating on a budget, and knew they couldn’t come close to the $600 million range that Soto will approach with his next deal.
It’s a high price to pay, sure, but that’s what happens when a bonafide Hall of Famer hits the open market at 26.
The Yankees can afford something in that range. The New York Mets are also expected to be in on the bidding.
The Red Sox… well, that’s a bit harder of a read, but they should be.
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Featured image via David Dermer/Imagn Images
