Washington Nationals fans contemplate the possibility of Juan Soto returning to the team: "Getting him back would be wild"
San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto is returning to the nation's capital this week for the second time since he was traded by the Washington Nationals last August.
The first time Soto returned to Washington, D.C., was Aug. 12-14 last season, just 10 days after he was dealt to the Padres. This time around, he will play his 100th game with San Diego as the team opens a three-game series against the Nationals on Tuesday night.
Juan Soto is back in D.C. this week in a San Diego uniform. But what if, in two years, he was back in the home whites? That’s not a tease. On the star the Nats traded — and the case to pursue him again. washingtonpost.com/sports/2023/05…
Juan Soto hasn't looked nearly the part of a superstar with the Padres that he did with the Nationals. However, the Washington Post posed the question about whether or not Washington should pursue Soto in free agency when he hits the market after next season.
For the most part, Nationals fans would be very interested in the possibility of a reunion.
@barrysvrluga Saved the franchise by trading him. Getting him back would be wild
@barrysvrluga This is too hard to read. Still not over this trade. May never be. 💔
@barrysvrluga Any time Juan Soto wants to be a Nats again, I may start watching them again!
As a member of the Nationals, Juan Soto was the runner-up in the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year voting, and finished in the top-10 of the NL Most Valuable Player vote three times. He was the runner-up for the 2021 NL NVP after his final full season with Washington, in which he led all of MLB with 145 walks and a .465 OBP while hitting .313 with 29 home runs and knocking in 95 RBIs.
@barrysvrluga please lets all collectively speak this to existence. I love this new team and theyre fun to watch. Bringing Soto back is that extra little boost we need!!!
@barrysvrluga I would like to get Juan Soto back, and judging by the number of SOTO 22 jerseys I saw at the games last weekend, so would lots of other people
However, Soto has looked like a shell of himself since being traded to San Diego. After hitting .291 with 119 homers, 358 RBIs and 42 steals over five years with Washington, he enters Tuesday's game with a .242 average, 14 homers, 37 RBIs, and four steals in 99 games with the Padres.
He's far from the superstar he was with the Nationals, and given his offensive slide, not everyone in Washington is chomping at the bit to bring him back.
@barrysvrluga Please, no!! I love the fact that team isn’t so focused on one player. I think it’s better that way.
@barrysvrluga PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE NO!!!
This dude is NO WHERE close to what he/Boras wants. Look at his stats post 2020 in WSH and SDP, to say he's not an elite player is a given.
He's ELITE at drawing walks, but that's it.
@barrysvrluga Nats got lucky....trading him worked out.
The return package going to the Nationals for Soto was a prized haul of prospects in left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, outfielder Robert Hassell III, shortstop C.J. Abrams, outfielder James Wood and right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana.
Could it be that Washington sold high on Soto?
@barrysvrluga All he does is ground out to first and is a terrible outfielder
@barrysvrluga Do people really want to reopen that wound? The fanbase was really hurt by the trade. The Nats won’t offer him the most money, so why should they go through the motions just to have him turn them down again?
Is Juan Soto playing himself out of a big payday?
At the time the Nationals traded Soto to the Padres, it was estimated that he might command a contract in the $400 million range on the open market. However, his statistics with the Padres are not adding up to a player that would make that amount in free agency.