Simmering along beneath the fevered pitch of the Shohei Ohtani sweepstakes this off-season has been the lingering question of the suddenly cost-conscious Padres trading Juan Soto. If it happens, it would be the second time Soto, one of the game’s brightest young stars, had been shipped out for reasons beyond his performance on the field, which is a sad commentary on the state of baseball and the teams who have been lucky enough to employ Soto. It would also raise an interesting question: what are teams willing to sacrifice for one year of Soto’s services: a rental player, but maybe the best rental player that’s been available.
Thinking through a possible Mariners trade for Juan Soto
