Juan Soto is the biggest name on the market ahead of the MLB trade deadline on August 2nd. Everyone knows about Soto’s accolades, but who are some of the prospects that could be headlining a potential trade?
J.J. Cooper, the Editor-in-Chief of Baseball America, joined Audacy's Bustin’ Loose Baseball podcast to give his thoughts on the Soto saga and highlighted some of the top prospects the Nationals could receive in return.
“I think if you’re talking about the Dodgers, is a Gavin Lux involved in it?” Cooper said (4:02 in player above). “Then you get to Bobby Miller, who’s the Dodgers’ best pitching prospect in the minors, who’s a very good pitching prospect. Gavin Stone, another pitching prospect who’s really having a great year, is leading the minors in ERA right now, throws really hard.
“Then you’ve got guys like Miguel Vargas and Michael Bush, who are both bat-first infielders. Ryan Peppio, who’s in the minors, been up and down a little bit… Throws high-90s and has one of the best changeups in the minors.”
Diego Cartaya is the Dodgers' best prospect, but he's a catcher. Cooper would be surprised by that after the Nationals acquired Keibert Ruiz in last year’s blockbuster deal, but Cartaya has the potential to be the better player, he said.
No matter who is putting a trade package together for Soto, they may have to mix and match top prospects with other talented young players that have major-league experience.
The Cardinals are one of the teams that fits the bill with Dylan Carlson, Nolan Gorman, and Matthew Liberatore as young talent with big-league experience.
“Then you have Jordan Walker, who’s one of the best prospects in baseball right now. He is a very rare combination of hitting ability and physicality at a very young age.” Walker is a third baseman, and given the Cardinals’ commitment to Nolan Arenado, “Walker would probably be a cornerstone of it,” Cooper said.
Cooper mentioned Masyn Winn, who threw over 100 mph across the diamond in the Futures Game. The Cardinals also have pitchers Gordon Graceffo and Michael McGreevy in addition to Liberatore. “Tink Hence is really interesting,” he said. “He’s a long ways away, he’s in Low-A, but this is a guy who has a really good fastball.”
As long as teams have most – if not all – of their prospects on the table for a Soto trade, the Cardinals and Dodgers seem to be ahead of the pack.
“It’s really hard for me to imagine any team going into this and saying ‘No, these prospects are off limits to you in a Juan Soto deal.’ It’s hard for me to fathom that because there’s not a prospect in baseball right now in the minors, maybe short of (Brewers outfielder) Jackson Chourio, who I would say has a chance to be a Juan Soto-type down the road. Juan Soto is literally one of the best young hitters of my lifetime. Period.”
The Yankees may still be in the mix, even after acquiring Andrew Benintendi, but they may not be able to match Los Angeles or St. Louis.
“I don’t think that the Yankees have the prospect talent at the minor-league level to give you that cornerstone. Volpe is the one, obviously. I would rather have Jordan Walker than Anthony Volpe right now as a cornerstone, but maybe they view it a little differently,” Cooper said.
Things are going to continue to heat up around Soto as the August 2nd trade deadline nears. There’s a chance that Soto is still a National on August 3rd, given his contract situation, but these prospects will be good names to know for a potential trade now or in the future.
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