In the aftermath of the story that Juan Soto turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract extension offer from the Washington Nationals, trade rumors have begun to circulate.
People now wonder if he’ll end up in either St. Louis, New York, Los Angeles, Seattle, or maybe even San Francisco.
Many are also confused as to why Soto would turn down such a huge deal.
But sports analyst Andrew Brandt is here to clear some things up and debunk some myths.
On Twitter, he revealed that the message being delivered to the media and the fans is different from reality, and that the contract offer was not as great as it sounds.
Catching up on Nationals-Juan Soto story; PR spin 101 from the team.
Team's message to fans/media: "He turned down $440 MILLION dollars!"
Reality: 15 years, less than $30M average (putting him below top 20 MLB players), backloaded, he'll be FA at age 26.
Don't believe the spin.— Andrew Brandt (@AndrewBrandt) July 21, 2022
Don’t Believe The Spin
Basically, what Brandt is saying is, don’t believe the PR spin the Nationals put on this.
In reality, the offer was not that great.
He was going to make less than $30 million annually, which would have put him well below some of the top 20 MLB players.
That’s not going to cut it if you’re trying to extend a guy like Soto.
He’s going to want more than that.
It sounds like the Nationals were really trying to lowball him.
Now, the trade rumors will begin to circulate.
We’re on the doorstep of the second half of the 2022 season, and we don’t know whether Soto will remain a National or end up with another team once the trade deadline comes around.
Simply put, you can’t lowball a guy like Soto if you want to extend him and keep him in Washington long term.
He’s a free agent in a few years, so if the Nats want to keep him, they’ll have to do a lot better than what they just offered their star.
NEXT: MLB Insider Reveals All The Juan Soto Suitors