For the last three seasons, the Washington Nationals have been the beneficiary of having one of the best value for money players in all of baseball in Juan Soto.
Since his call-up in 2018, Soto has blossomed into a franchise cornerstone for the Nationals while becoming one of the best hitters in all of baseball. Oh, and just the small matter of being a World Series champion last year.
In that time though, the young outfielder has only earned around $1.2 million in salary, according to Spotrac.
Being able to have such an important player on close to the major league minimum salary-wise has allowed the Nationals to invest money in free agency in other areas, including the vaunted rotation that carried them to baseball’s highest peak last season.