Guardians, Rays Among Possible Trade Destinations for Juan Soto

The MLB trade deadline is just one week away, and though a flurry of moves are sure to develop in the coming days, there’s one name looming large over the hot stove proceedings: Juan Soto.

The Nationals superstar outfielder is easily the biggest name on the proverbial trading block, and sources told SI’s Tom Verducci the expectation is that the two-time All-Star is expected to be dealt in the immediate future.

Who’s on the list of teams that could push to acquire the 23-year-old? Nearly everybody, include some names you might not expect to be in the mix for such a blockbuster deal. From Verducci:

In addition to the trade package, Soto will cost a team about $5.3 million for the remainder of this season and about $55 million for his final two arbitration seasons. The Twins are paying Carlos Correa $81 million over the same 2 ½ years. Every team with the hope of winning the World Series in this three-year window must be in on Soto—including the Guardians and Rays.

Cleveland and Tampa Bay? Yes. The pool is that deep.

Start with the obvious teams that are never out of a bidding war because of their resources: the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox and Cubs.

Add teams with new ownership who are willing to mortgage the long-term cost to seize this three-season window for a long-awaited World Series championship: the Mets, Padres and Guardians. Never discount new owner motivation as the X factor in these kinds of deals. And add the Rays to this group, not because the ownership is new but because they are desperate to generate momentum toward a new ballpark somewhere. (See their free agent interest in Freddie Freeman.)

Both Cleveland and Tampa Bay the necessary young talent in their system to be able to execute a potential Soto trade, and both are firmly in the mix in the wild-card race. Adding Soto into the fold would provide an enormous swing as teams prepare for the final two-month sprint toward the postseason.

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Soto, who debuted in 2018 at age 19, has spent his entire career with Washington and excelled since emerging onto the scene. He won the batting title in ’20 and owns a career .292/.426/.539 slash line, with 118 home runs and more walks (455) than strikeouts (410). He is under contract through the end of the ’24 season.