Juan Soto is somebody who may be entering the free agent market sooner or later.
But the Washington Nationals are trying to do everything in their power to keep their young star.
Signing Nelson Cruz was a good place to start, but if Soto does hit the market, teams will be all over him.
Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo has no intention of letting Soto walk however and is determined to keep him by any means necessary, referring to him as the face of the team and continuing to hype him up as a big piece for the future of the Nats.
Mike Rizzo also went out of his way to repeatedly call Juan Soto the face of the Nationals today. There is a long-term wooing process going on. Bringing in Nelson Cruz, if they do, couldn't hurt that effort, either.
— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) March 14, 2022
Future Of The Nats?
The Nationals are in a big market, so they have the financial resources to pull off a long-term extension for Soto.
Soto took over as the face of the franchise after the departure of Bryce Harper, so keeping him will be at the top of the Nationals list of priorities.
If he does get an extension, he is the future of the Nationals franchise, and Washington should do whatever they can to try and keep their star outfielder.
He is one of the remaining holdovers from the 2019 World Series championship squad after all.
Washington may be in a bit of a rebuild stage right now, but the move for Nelson Cruz helps get them pointed back in the right direction and is a good place to start if they plan to keep Soto around for a while.
The key for the Nationals is surrounding Soto with as much talent as possible.
They have a ton of prospects in their minor league system now, so it’s not like they’re too far off from being a contender again.
NEXT: Nelson Cruz Takes Advantage Of New MLB Rule
