Fellow outfielder Juan Soto, who played with Kim Ha-Sung on the San Diego Padres, is reportedly headed to another team next year.
MLB.com reported on Nov. 11 that “the baseball world believes Soto will be traded. ESPN’s Buster Olney said, ‘Soto is 100 percent going to be traded before the 2024 season.'”
Soto is eligible for free agency after the 2024 season. Soto is exactly what San Diego needs. This year, he played in all 162 games, batting .275 with 35 home runs, 109 RBIs, a .410 on-base percentage and a .519 slugging percentage.
The Dodgers need Soto to compete for the National League West title. Since making his big league debut in 2018, Soto has played in all 779 games so far this year, 온라인카지노 hitting 160 home runs with a .288 batting average and 483 RBI.
He’s a four-time Silver Slugger and three-time All-Star in six big league seasons. The problem is his price tag. San Diego is already a big spender from last year, so it’s not easy to give him a good free agent deal.
The Padres spent 11 years and $280 million to sign free agent shortstop Xander Bogaerts last winter. Internal free agent Manny Machado got 11 years and $350 million, and Darvish got six years and $108 million.
ESPN said, “San Diego will continue to try to win. But it needs to cut costs. A source familiar with the situation confirmed that San Diego is not in compliance with its debt service coverage ratio.”
The team also has a number of high-paid players, including Fernando Tatis Jr. ($340 million over 14 years) and Joe Musgrove ($100 million over five years). This season’s payroll is over $250 million, behind only the New York Mets and New York Yankees. These are all teams that have invested heavily.
Soto even turned down a 15-year, $350 million extension while in Washington. San Diego would then have to offer him an even bigger contract, which would make it difficult to land him.
General manager A.J. Preller said, “The lineup of Soto, Machado, Tatis Jr. and Bogaerts is very strong. The plan is to keep that group together and add pitching.”
ESPN reported that Preller thought it was “ideal, without a doubt.” But it all comes down to Soto’s price tag. “The baseball world believes Soto will play elsewhere next season,” ESPN wrote, “and he’s an attractive left-handed option for a team that didn’t land Shohei Ohtani or Cody Bellinger.”
ESPN also reported that “the New York Yankees, a team in desperate need of a left-handed outfielder, could be interested. The same goes for the Chicago Cubs, who are unlikely to re-sign Bellinger as a free agent.”