Juan Soto Trade Grades: Grading the Juan Soto Trade for Padres and Nationals
Juan Soto Trade Grades: Grading the Juan Soto Trade for Padres and Nationals
It finally happened. On Tuesday, with the MLB trade deadline right around the corner, Juan Soto was officially traded to the San Diego Padres. Soto, at age 23, is the biggest name in Major League Baseball to be traded in quite some time. So, it makes sense that the Nationals got a significant haul in return for the slugger.
As a matter of fact, they got CJ Abrams, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Eric Hosmer and Jarlin Susana in exchange for both Soto and first baseman Josh Bell.
It's rare to see a player of Soto's caliber on the move. It's even more uncommon to see them get traded at such a young age. But, once Soto turned down the Nationals' best and final offer earlier this year, the writing was on the wall.
Now, it's time to grade the Juan Soto trade.
Grading trades immediately after they happen can be tricky, especially when there are so many prospects included in a deal like this one. Still, let's take a look at the immediate reaction and breakdown the Juan Soto trade grades.
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Juan Soto Trade Grades
Nationals Get: CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, Robert Hassell III, James Wood, Eric Hosmer and Jarlin Susana
Nationals Trade Grade: B
I want to be mad at the Nationals for letting Soto walk in the first place. But, this is how they have dealt with superstars almost every single time they've had one in recent years, so I'm not shocked. Ownership claims they don't have the money to sign guys like Harper or Rendon or Soto and they let them walk. But, we could have done better here, Washington. Especially when you consider that Josh Bell is also in the deal.
The good news is that Robert Hassell III is included in the trade. He's the Padres' top prospect and needed to be in this deal if it was going to be good for Washington. The bad news is Luis Campusano, their No. 2 piece, isn't included. Sure, I like James Wood (No. 3) just as much as anyone and Abrams still has a lot of promise. But, Juan Soto is a generational talent. You need as many shots as possible to get this right. If this was Hassell III, Abrams, Gore, Campusano and James Wood, this would have been a great haul. But I'm not overly high on Abrams or Gore and Hosmer was a throw-in to play 1B for the Nats. In the end, we're going with a B for this Juan Soto trade grade because Hassell and Wood are legit pieces.
Padres Get: Juan Soto, Josh Bell
Padres Trade Grade: A
This one is pretty easy. They got Juan Soto and Josh Bell, so outside of giving up an ownership stake in the team, the Padres were always going to win this deal. Not only did they get Juan Soto, the best young player in Major League Baseball, but they got Josh Bell, a switch-hitting first baseman that can help them win now.
As you can tell from my Juan Soto trade grade for the Nationals, I like but don't love the pieces the Padres gave up. Keeping Campusano is a huge win. Giving up Abrams and Gore is not a huge loss in my mind. I'm fairly low on those guys. Hassell III and Wood are the two biggest losses for San Diego, but even if they reach their absolute ceiling they won't be as dominant or complete of a player as Juan Soto already is at age 23.