“Juan Soto is available.” - The words no right-thinking Nationals fan wants to hear opened Ken Rosenthal’s article today at The Athletic, with the senior writer reporting Washington offered 23-year-old slugger Juan Soto a 15-year/$440M extension which, “... would have made him the highest-paid player in baseball history, and the team now plans to entertain trade offers for him, a seismic development leading to the Aug. 2 deadline,” since Soto and agent Scott Boras reportedly turned the offer down.
“Soto would have received an average salary of $29.33 million, the 20th-highest in baseball history,” Rosenthal writes, “with the deal extending from his ages 24 to 38 seasons,” so the deal would, “effectively [make] him a National for the rest of his career.