DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - Are the Rangers plotting a pursuit of Washington Nationals star outfielder Juan Soto?
In a recent article written for the New York Post, Audacy insider Jon Heyman listed Texas as the odds-on favorite to land Soto, who is available for trade after the 23-year-old reportedly turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract offer from Washington before the All-Star break.
Rangers president of baseball operations, Jon Daniels, was indirectly asked about Soto during his Wednesday afternoon visit with the GBag Nation on 105.3 The Fan, and if you read between the lines, you might get an indication of where their heads are at on a potential pursuit of the slugger.
How do you know when it's the right time to pull the trigger on a blockbuster deal?
"A lot of planning and discussion goes into it - of where we are as an organization and what the next couple of years are going to look like. Who in the (farm) system we evaluate that's going to make a big impact in the big-leagues for us. We actually had a pretty good strategy meeting on some of that today. ... Our focus, in terms of acquisitions, is going to be on guys who are going to be (under contract) beyond this year. I'm not ruling anything out at this point, but as we've talked about looking guys who might be available, we're looking for players who can be a part of this core for the next several years. We've already been on the phones a decent amount. The great thing from an ownership standpoint is they're really supportive, there are no mandates either way - we don't have to cut payroll (and) we have the ability to add if it's the right situation."
We know you can't get into specific players, but do you go through the exercise of determining what it would cost to acquire a "particular player we're hearing in the media isn't signing a contract?"
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"We do. I think what we expect to do over the next couple of years is compete year in and year out for the division and championships. And to the degree that players are going to be available that can help us towards those goals, it's not just a duty, it's not just that we owe it to ourselves. It's exciting, it's the most fun part of our business to go chase down championship-caliber players that can fit into your club and help elevate you to a level you haven't been to in a while. We don't want to chase rumors, but there are absolutely scenarios where, sometimes, someone will say 'hey, did you see this? They may be more open to this than we previously thought,' or our scouts talked to their guys and they're at least considering it. We always follow up on those."
When you see in the news that a player turned down a large sum of money, does that make your job tougher when looking to sign players in the future? Does it bother you?
"No, it doesn't. Great players are going to be rewarded appropriately. We're in a non-salary cap sport. And it's just very different than other sports. … There is certainly a difference (in MLB when it comes to market size). But we're fortunate to be in a market and have an ownership group where we don't have to rule anything out."
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