Right now, Juan Soto is undeniably one of the best young players in the MLB. The 23-year-old already has a World Series Championship and many other accolades to his name. This All-Star Break, Soto added 2022 Home Run Derby champion and his second All-Star Game to his grocery list of accomplishments.
Despite his huge success and high status in the league, the Washington Nationals did not provide a flight for Juan Soto to attend the All-Star festivities. According to his agent Scott Boras, Soto flew to Los Angeles on a commercial flight and got there at 1:30 A.M. the morning of the Home Run Derby.
While this might come as a surprise for many MLB fans, Juan Soto isn't the first, and won't be the last, All-Star to travel commercially to the All-Star events.
According to former MLB outfielder Adam Jones, he paid for his trip to the All-Star Game three of the five times he made the cut. However, he noted that his situation was a little different.
“We only had 1 player the first 3 times and I wasn't no damn Soto,” Adams tweeted.
I’ve paid for 3 of the 5 times I made the ASG. But we only had 1 player the first 3 times and I wasn’t no damn Soto lol. But last 2 they paid and for 2016 for the guys in SD. More ppl. But I love reading the comments. If you don’t know something just say that ppl. It’s easy https://t.co/ZYfFxsUhvN
— 10 (@SimplyAJ10) July 21, 2022
It sounds like Jones understands why the Nationals didn't charter a plane for Soto. But, at the same time, he noted, it is Juan Soto we are talking about.
As noted by Jon Heyman, teams can choose whether or not they provide travel for players headed to the All-Star Game. He noted that teams “sometimes” provide private transportation to players “who by definition are performing at elite level.”
Teams sometimes provide private travel to All-Star Gane to players who by definition are performing at elite level but are not obligated to do so. Players can also pay for their own private travel. But agents are disallowed ftom paying as private travel is Obvs a gift over $500.
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeyman) July 21, 2022
At the end of the day, the Nationals were not obligated to provide a private form of transportation for Juan Soto, no matter how much they were willing to pay him to stick around in Washington.
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