News The Nationals Need to Make the Most of Their Time With Juan Soto

The Nationals have two options now that Juan Soto reportedly has turned down their 15-year, $440 million extension offer: trade him before the Aug. 2 deadline and replenish the farm system with what should be an unprecedented return of prospects, or make the most of their remaining time with him.

The first choice is tantalizing for baseball fans. Imagine Soto, the greatest young hitter since Ted Williams, spending the next three pennant races in a Dodgers outfield with Mookie Betts and Cody Bellinger and reuniting with his good buddy Trea Turner. Dream of his sweet, left-handed stroke sandwiched between Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton, launching dinger after dinger into the Yankee Stadium seats. Think of Uncle Stevie Cohen ordering his front office to make Soto a Met, financial and prospect costs be damned. Consider the sorcery of Jerry Dipoto pulling off his craziest trick yet and putting Soto in the lineup with Julio Rodríguez as the Mariners finally end their two-decade playoff drought.

But for as much fun as it is to ponder these possibilities, the more logical choice here is the second one. No amount of blue chip prospects can equal the value of Soto.

So, instead, Washington should do whatever it possibly can to put a competitive team on the field for the two years left after this one before he hits free agency.

Sound unreasonable? Perhaps. The Nationals are the worst team in baseball right now, and reinforcements aren’t coming up through their depleted farm system. That also means they don’t have prospects to trade for competent big leaguers. Their tools are limited, but they do have one solid resource they can use to improve their roster for 2023 and ’24: money.

They can’t invest in him long term, so they should use some of the money they were going to use to extend Soto to assemble a contender around him while they still can.