Getty Image / Matt Thomas
Last season, Juan Soto decided to make a pretty big bet on himself.
The Washington Nationals reportedly offered him a contract that was worth $440 million over 15 years.
He turner that down. The Nationals then decided to trade Soto and the expectation was that he would land a massive contract wherever he was traded.
The trade came before the 2022 MLB deadline and Soto was shipped to the San Diego Padres in exchange for a haul of prospects.
Soto’s contract expired at the end of his first season with the Padres, seemingly leaving Soto and his new team to work out that massive extension fans were expecting.
Negotiations have reportedly finished and the end result was not that extension. Instead, according to ESPN’s Jeff Passan, Soto and the Padres agreed to a 1-year deal worth $23 million that will allow them to avoid arbitration.
Outfielder Juan Soto and the San Diego Padres are in agreement on a one-year, $23 million contract to avoid arbitration, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2023
It’s certainly a lot of money, but this has to be seen as a loss for Soto.
The massive deal the Nationals offered him would have paid him over $29 million per year, which means that he’ll make more than $6 million dollars less this season than he could have made if he had just stayed with the Nationals.
There’s a good reason why the Padres were able to sign Soto at this lower valuation. He wasn’t very good in his first season with the team. In 52 games with the Padres, Soto hit just .236 with only 6 home runs and 16 RBIs.
Luckily for Soto, he’ll have plenty of opportunities to drive his value back up as he is only 24 years old.
He’ll just need to be a lot better in his 2nd year with the San Diego Padres or turning down that offer from the Nationals could end up looking like a big mistake.