The St. Louis Cardinals, who’ve a bevy of highly regarded young players, are viewed by rivals as a possible front-runner to land superstar Juan Soto.
The Mets and Yankees are amongst at the very least a half-dozen teams believed to have checked in. But there isn’t any early sense that either Recent York team is on the forefront of talks. A number of suitors have been told the Nats are specializing in one or two teams in the intervening time, and a few imagine the Cardinals are within the group getting early attention. The Mariners are one more team seen early as having a probability on this derby.
Nats individuals are declining comment for now, though one NL executive said in regards to the Cardinals’ possibilities here: “Good farm system.”
The Nats are a corporation that relies heavily on scouting, and there’s word they like loads of the Cardinals’ young players and prospects. The Cardinals line up for what the Nationals want — not only prospects, but young, controllable players already within the majors. Their top young major leaguers include outfielders Dylan Carlson, Harrison Bader and Tyler O’Neill, plus infielders Nolan Gorman and Brendan Donovan. Third baseman Jordan Walker, shortstop Masyn Winn and pitcher Matt Liberatore are amongst the perfect prospects in the game.
The Cardinals have emerged as a possible frontrunner to land Juan Soto. AP
The Cardinals have the type of quality pieces to supply that they might not need to take back a “bad” contract. There are rival teams that imagine the Nationals would also prefer to off-load the contract of Patrick Corbin as a part of a deal. Corbin, who’s owed $59 million for 2023-24, has a 5.66 ERA in 62 starts for the reason that starting of the 2020 season.
Soto’s 2022 salary is $17.1 million, and that alone wouldn’t discourage any interested team.
Along with the Cardinals and the 2 Recent York teams, the Dodgers, Padres, Giants and Mariners are amongst other teams regarded as showing interest. The Post first reported the interest of the 2 Recent York teams. Bob Nightengale of USA Today first reported most of the other teams, and suggested a pair days ago they were all attributable to make bids. Here’s a rundown of the seven known hopefuls:
Cardinals
They’ve a terrific stash of position players, which the Nats badly need and St. Louis is in need of a lift in what’s been a disappointing begin to the season. The Cardinals’ greater need is starting pitching, but this may occasionally be a chance that’s hard to pass up. Star third baseman Nolan Arenado also has an opt-out at 12 months’s end.
Padres
The aggressive Padres could do it as they, too, have quality kids similar to shortstop C.J. Abrams, pitchers MacKenzie Gore, Adrian Morejon and Ryan Weathers and outfielders James Wood and Robert Hassell III, who drew extra attention on the Futures Game. Fernando Tatis Jr. isn’t one they’d offer, The Post reported. The Padres were deep in negotiations for Max Scherzer and Trea Turner last 12 months but ultimately couldn’t match up with the Nats.
Juan Soto Getty Images
Dodgers
As usual the Dodgers have the young players and prospects, including infielders Gavin Lux and Michael Busch and pitchers Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot. They’ve shown a penchant for probability taking in recent times and were in a position to make the Scherzer-Turner deal last 12 months with the Nats, who focused on catcher Keibert Ruiz, which paid off for them.
Yankees
Two of their top prospects are young shortstops — Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza. There usually are not universal high grades for outfielder Jasson Dominguez, who homered within the Futures Game. The Yankees have a gaggle of talented, near-major-league-ready arms, including Rafael Medina, Ken Waldichuk and Will Warren. It is feasible that with recent pitching injuries to Luis Severino and Michael King that the Yankees concentrate more on pitching, notably Cincinnati ace Luis Castillo.
Mets
The Mets’ top prospect is catcher Francisco Alvarez, which is one position the Nats don’t actually need after obtaining Ruiz last 12 months. The larger issue is that they reside within the NL East, and it’s hard to assume Washington desires to face Soto so often the subsequent 2 ½ years — or likely way greater than that for the reason that Mets can obviously afford to increase him considering Steve Cohen’s largesse.
Mariners
They obviously have the need to interrupt their two-decade playoff-less streak. Soto could pair with Julio Rodriguez, whom he beat within the Home Run Derby finals, to form an awesome 1-2 lineup punch. They’ve talented young pitchers similar to George Kirby, Emerson Hancock and Matt Brash and a top shortstop prospect in Noelvi Marte.
Giants
They previously tried hard for Giancarlo Stanton and Bryce Harper so that they have the interest. Prospects similar to shortstop Marco Luciano, outfielder Heliot Ramos and pitchers Kyle Harrison and Will Bednar aren’t bad but may not have the option to match the Cards and a pair others.
