Soto Flies Commercial to HR Derby After Nationals Refuse to Charter Flight

Hours before Juan Soto won the 2022 Home Run Derby in Los Angeles on Monday night, he traveled from Atlanta to California on a commercial flight.

The Nationals outfielder’s agent Scott Boras told Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein that the team didn’t charter a flight for Soto to the All-Star week after he turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract extension on Saturday.

Because of this, Soto had to board a plane early on Monday morning out of Atlanta following the Nationals’ series vs. the Braves, who were charted to Los Angeles.

“The Atlanta Braves arrived [in Los Angeles] five hours earlier than Juan Soto did,” Boras said. “You know why? Because their team chartered a plane. Juan Soto had to fly on a commercial flight and wait in an airport for two hours and get here at 1:30 in the morning and have to compete in the Home Run Derby. And that’s something that Major League Baseball did not take care of and that’s something that the Washington Nationals did not take care of.”

Soto is Washington’s only All-Star this year. Boras told Apstein that he did not charter a plane for Soto because it was a “violation of rules governing agent behavior.”

Apstein noted that a Nationals spokesperson did not comment.

Soto’s future remains uncertain, especially now that it appears the relationship between him and the team is tainted. The Nationals will reportedly begin to look into trade offers for Soto ahead of the Aug. 2 trade deadline.