“There was a method to Davey [Martinez’s] madness last year when he put [Juan Soto] into right field for the last couple of games of the season to see how he would adhere to that,” Nationals’ GM Mike Rizzo told reporters in mid-December, before Washington signed left fielder Kyle Schwarber to a 1-year/$10M free agent deal.
The signing of Schwarber means Soto’s moving across the outfield to the corner spot he played in the minors before he moved to left field upon being called up in 2018.
Soto’s history and comfort-level in right field gave the Nationals options as they surveyed the market and searched for a corner outfielder/middle of the order bat this winter.