Well, some good news coming out of the Washington Nationals in light of the Ryan Zimmerman news as it seems that before the lockout the Washington Nationals offered Juan Soto a 13-year $350 Million dollar contract according to Enrique Rojas of ESPN. From the article:
Antes del actual cierre patronal en Grandes Ligas, los Washington Nationals ofrecieron al jardinero dominicano Juan Soto una extensión por 13 años y $350 millones de dólares, que aparentemente no impresionó mucho al pelotero y sus agentes.La oferta de un pacto que comenzaría a correr en la temporada del 2022, no incluía dinero diferido, dijo una fuente de los Nationals a ESPN Digital. De haberse cristalizado, Soto cobraría un salario promedio de casi $27 millones de dólares hasta el 2034, cuando tendrá 36 años de edad. “Sí, me hicieron la oferta hace un par de meses, antes del paro que tenemos en el béisbol”, dijo Soto el miércoles a ESPN Digital.
A translation of this: “
Before the current Major League lockout, the Washington Nationals offered outfielder Juan Soto a 13-year, $350 million extension, which apparently did not impress the player and his agents very much. The offer of a deal that would start running in the 2022 season did not include deferred money, a Nationals source told ESPN Digital. Had it materialized, Soto would earn an average salary of almost $27 million until 2034, when he will be 36 years old.
It seems that this is true as Juan Soto has acknowledged that the Nationals did in fact make this offer. If true, while the two sides have a lot of work to do to get to a magic number to make Soto the next face of the franchise, it is good to see that the Nationals recognize the amazing talent and star power.
“Yes, they made me an offer a few months ago, before the lockout,” Soto said in the ESPN article. “But right now, my agents and I think the best option is to go year by year and wait for free agency. My agent, Scott Boras, has control over the situation.” The article went on to quote Soto by saying “Anyway, I still think of Washington as the place where I would like to spend the rest of my career, so we will see.”
More to come…
