By Alfredo Echenique Lugo
In the middle of the 2022 season, the Washington Nationals and the San Diego Padres completed the trade for Dominican Juan Soto. The outfielder, 23 years old at the time, moved to the Southern California franchise and joined one of the most ambitious projects in the MLB.
This project was put together by its owner Peter Seidler. Who dreamed of seeing the Padres champion the World Series, so he put together a team in which he brought together stars like Blake Snell, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Yu Darvish and Juan Soto himself.
However, Seidler passed away in November 2023 and was unable to see the Padres lift the championship trophy. After his death, Soto was traded to the New York Yankees. Although it was recently revealed that the Dominican was very close to staying in San Diego and signing a big contract.
The person who revealed this information was Scott Boras himself, Juan Soto’s representative, in an interview for the New York Post. In which he comments that months before Seidler’s death, there was an approach between both parties to talk about a multi-year contract with the franchise.
“The owner loved Juan Soto. Peter called to say he wanted to keep him and there were discussions about wanting to keep him. And unfortunately it didn’t work out due to his health,” Boras commented during the interview.
He also made it clear that Soto and the owner got along very well. “Soto really liked the owner, who was doing well there and he was not at all unhappy as a Padre player”, Boras said.
Boras explained that the first approaches to Soto’s negotiation were kept secret and that if Peter Seidler had not died, it is very likely that Soto would have stayed in San Diego and perhaps would have been about to sign a million-dollar and extensive contract.
Soto was ultimately traded from the Padres to the Yankees in a trade that involved Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Likewise, Boras himself also commented that Soto currently feels very comfortable in his new team and city. “He is very happy in New York.”
Soto will be a free agent at the end of this season. So if the Yankees want to extend the talented player’s stay in New York, they will have to offer him an attractive agreement. Which is already projected to be over $500 million dollars.
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