The benefits and drawbacks of the Phillies acquiring Juan Soto.
Report: Trading deal has been announced by the…
He fits this offense perfectly and is a modern-day Ted Williams, but would the Phillies benefit from it?
Juan Soto could be on the move this off-season.
In a post this week, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal asserted that the Padres’ star left fielder and one of the great young offensive talents in baseball, is “almost certain” to be traded before the start of the 2024 season
A Soto-to-the-Yankees trade makes sense, and according to Andy Martino, the two sides have gotten as far as exchanging names, although a deal is reportedly not close. But it makes sense for any team willing to pay a player more than $30 million in his final year of arbitration and a World Series window propped open.
For the record, there are no rumors or even whispers of hints that the Phillies are interested in acquiring the 2019 World Series champion, but with Bryce Harper assuming duties at first base full time and Kyle Schwarber becoming the everyday DH next year, there is space available in left field for the Phils to make a real upgrade.
Sure, they could add a veteran free agent like Tommy Pham, Adam Duvall or Joc Pederson and some combination of Christian Pache or Johan Rojas as part of a group effort to man the position.
Certainly Pache and/or Rojas would provide outstanding run prevention, and any of Pham, Duvall or Pederson would be a reasonable add to the lineup.
That’s the most likely course, but given Soto appears to be available, could the Phillies make a play for him? What are the pros and cons?
It’s Juan freakin’ Soto: He’s 24 years old, has played six years in the big leagues and has put up a career OPS of .946.
He finished 6th in the MVP voting this year with a .275/.410/.519 season in which he blasted 35 home runs, knocked in 109 runs and led the league with 132 walks. He did this all in San Diego, a noted pitcher’s park.
He also played all 162 games, won his fifth Silver Slugger and was worth 5.5 WAR, according to Baseball Reference.
He is this generation’s Ted Williams, and this one pro is enough to supersede all the cons you’re going to see below.
Plate Discipline: Soto is one of the most patient hitters in baseball, and when he gets his pitch, he usually doesn’t miss.
He only struck out 129 times last season and has led the league in walks three times in his young career.
For a team that has way too much swing-and-miss and exhibited awful plate discipline in the final five games of the NLCS (as well as most of the season), Soto’s consistency would be a welcome addition.
Postseason Success: Soto has hit.261/.349/.495 with an OPS of.845 in 29 career postseason games.
In the Nationals’ 7-game upset victory over the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series, he batted.333/.438/.471, with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs.
Later that season, in the one-game NL Wild Card Game, he gave Josh Hader one of the biggest postseason hits in recent memory.
