by If you’re an MLB fan like me, you were likely constantly refreshing Twitter on August 2nd to see if there had been any major updates during the 2022 MLB trade deadline. Those constant refreshes paid off in a big way, as a massive blockbuster deal sent seismic waves throughout the baseball world. Juan Soto, arguably the game’s best hitter at just 23 years old, was dealt from the Washington Nationals along with first baseman Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres in a monster trade.
Many people began speculating a Juan Soto trade after reports stated that Soto turned down a 15-year, $440 million offer, which would have been the largest contract in MLB history. Seeing that Soto turned down a record setting contract, it became clear that Soto wanted to play somewhere else and the Nationals were not going to simply let him walk for nothing.
They are still experiencing growing pains from last year’s deadline when they dealt longtime ace Max Scherzer along with young superstar shortstop Trea Turner in a deal that netted them 4 prospects, including Keibert Ruiz and Josiah Gray, the Dodgers’ top 2 prospects at the time.
However, Ruiz and Gray have not gotten off to the start that the Nationals were hoping for and they do not want to be on the wrong end of another potential trade.
With the Padres set to conclude their road trip with a Sunday Night Baseball showdown in Los Angeles, I think it’s time we give preliminary trade grades for both sides.
San Diego Acquires: OF Juan Soto, 1B Josh Bell. Grade: A
While most writers will give the Padres an automatic A+ for trading for the best hitter in baseball (my personal opinion), I am hesitant to add the plus because I need to see this team actually win the World Series with the kind of talent they have on their roster. At the 2022 deadline, they not only traded for Soto and Bell, but they also acquired OF Brandon Drury and longtime Brewers closer Josh Hader.
In doing so, they completely dismantled their farm system that was once among the best in baseball, though the reality is teams that want to win now make moves at the expense of young prospects.
Dealing away Abrams, Gore, and Hassell—all of whom were once top 20 prospects on MLB pipeline are the result of an ultra-aggressive move, and if the Padres win it all in the next couple years, it will have paid off.
Even though I don’t think it’s an A+ trade, it is still an amazing trade for San Diego and they will now have an ultra formidable ‘Big 3’ consisting of Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr, and Manny Machado.
Washington Acquires: SS CJ Abrams, OF Robert Hassell III, LHP Mackenzie Gore, 1B Luke Voit, OF James Wood, RHP Jarlin Susana. Grade: A-
For a team that traded away a generational superstar, they got as much as they possibly could have gotten in return for Soto. As mentioned before, Abrams, Gore, and Hassell were all top 25 prospects on MLB pipeline’s rankings (Gore and Abrams were both top 10). Just 2 years ago, the Nationals had statistically the worst farm system in the majors.
Now, they boast one of the better young prospect pools in baseball along with young controllable talent at the Major League level. The Nationals will have to rely on their player development staff to get the best out of each of these prospects.
No one knows how each of these prospects will turn out, but on the surface, the Nationals gained a very interesting young crop of players, along with Luke Voit who had the most home runs in baseball during the shortened 60 game season in 2020.
