The Washington Nationals have expressed an interest in extending superstar Juan Soto. This comes as no surprise given that Soto is just 23-years old and one of MLB's brightest stars. And you would think their main motivation to sign him long-term would be for that reason. However, MLB insider Ken Rosenthal shared the real money-based motivation behind the Nationals' Juan Soto extension pursuit.
“They (Nationals) have been trying to extend Soto,” Rosenthal said. “What they want to do is give cost certainty to ownership groups that are looking at the team trying to buy it.”
The Nationals are currently for sale. Ken Rosenthal is saying that the motivation behind a Juan Soto extension stems from potential monetary gains for a new owner.
“I don't know that a deal is going to get done,” Rosenthal continued. “Scott Boras is Juan Soto's agent. Scott Boras generally likes his guys to go to the open market. But at the same time, the Lerner family that owns the team, they don't want to be the ones to be responsible for Juan Soto leaving the Nationals. That is why you've heard Mike Rizzo (Nationals GM) say we”re not trading him. And that is why they are still trying to sign him.”
The Nationals should want to sign Juan Soto. But you would expect the reasoning to be baseball-related. Looking at it purely from a business perspective may upset Nats fans. At the same time, if it leads to an extension then they won't care about the reasoning in the long run.
Follow Us
Subscribe