Juan Soto back in DC for a dozen or more years? That’s the dream, although even if he wanted to come back to where it all started, we can all but know the Nats can’t or won’t offer the kind of money other big-market teams can and will.
The Nats offered him $445 million a few years back and he’s going to get at least $100 million more if not more, and yeah, $50 million a year for one player doesn’t seem to be in the Nats’ budget, even with some big deals coming off the books.
“I don’t see any way they would pay him $600 million,” Bish said. “If they ever sell the team, the new owner inherits the contract. So let’s just say it’s somewhere in the $50 to $55 million ranger per year – is Lerner going to pay that?”
“The Ohtani deal is so back-loaded, there’s no chance that Juan Soto is gonna take an 80 percent back-loaded, deferred money deal, and we know the Lerners in the past have definitely been big on deferred money for a lot of their deals.”
So maybe not Soto, but the Nats have a good young core, and maybe a few solid veterans in key spots should be the play?
“They’ve got these young players where people are excited about, we saw James Wood and Dylan Crews last year, but they need to add some established players too,” JP said.
“Five straight losing seasons, one of those was COVID and another they traded a bunch of studs to acquire these young players, but the fact that Washington is still in that 70-win range? They gotta get closer to that 80 to 83-win range,” Bish said. “To do that, you're gonna have to sign some veteran bats. I know names like Christian Walker and Alex Bregman, they're thrown out there, and Pete Alonso, but they’re going to cost you $150 to $160 million. Are the Lerners willing to do that?”
They should be, in Bish’s mind, because the time is now.
“Last year, Washington was next to last in home runs with 135, and their leading home run hitter was CJ Abrams. You need more pop,” Bish said.
“The pitching was really good and a lot of these young pitchers look really goodm and their overall numbers were good as a team, but to have 135 home runs, the only team below them last year was the team who set the record for losses, the White Sox. You've got to get some guys, especially on the corners, that have big bats, because you need to score more runs, and you've got to get closer to that 80-win range if not higher.”
The Nationals are 31st right now when it comes to multi-year payroll, so, yeah, now is the time.
“They used to be a Top 10, even Top 5 team,” JP said, with EB saying “that’s not a shock, but at some point, they have to re-enter the market.”
“You have to think about your fans, and you have to think about the standings, and you've got to get better as a team, especially now that you've got all these young core players,” Bish said. “It can't be a Joey Gallo or Nick Senzel, those were nothings – you’ve got to go out and get impact players that are gonna play every day and hit you with 35 bombs.”
“I think the Lerners can make some big splashes,” was JP’s response, which led into why Juan Soto would or would not come back here…
“You can’t just have one guy and then all young guys if you want to be competitive,” EB said. “Look at the Yankees and Dodgers, you need to have a bunch of guys, right?”
“I think it’s a pipe dream to think that the Nats are gonna spend that sort of money on Juan Soto, or any other free agent,” Cakes said. “I’m sure the Lerners come in to Mike Rizzo and lay a nymber down on the table and say, ‘this is what you can spend, you can’t go over it.’”
“That's why a guy like Alex Bregman can come in; they need a third baseman, and say you can bring him in at $170 million,” Bish replied. “You could bring him in and another guy on a corner, and have two more bats and spend half of what you would spend if you went out to get Soto. Why not both Bregman and Christian Walker or Pete Alonso?”
Listen to the entire discussion above!