Reduce Wass/Associated Press
Washington Nationals not novel manager Mike Rizzo would truly like Juan Soto to be a key half of the team for future years, nonetheless contract discussions possess no longer taken off to this point.
Rizzo acknowledged such talks final spring “didn’t inch very far” and possess no longer been revisited since given the uncertainty the total league handled in 2020, per Designate Zuckerman of MASN.
“But our plans are to effect an effort like we’ve made efforts previously to our genuinely big young avid gamers, to have them in a Nationals uniform for an extended, long time,” Rizzo acknowledged.
Zuckerman renowned questions about Soto’s future with the team arose after Fernando Tatis Jr. signed a 14-yr, $340 million extension with the San Diego Padres.
“For me, I changed into genuinely contented for (Tatis),” Soto acknowledged. “I fair congrats him and all the pieces. For me ethical now, I fair strive to come here and play baseball. I fabricate no longer judge any of that. Anytime I come to spring, my tips is on baseball. I strive to get my body in form, get willing and grab a scrutinize at to grab one more championship.”
That is no longer an straight pressing subject for both aspect.
In spite of all the pieces, Soto is no longer scheduled for unrestricted free agency until after the 2024 advertising campaign. Peaceable, locking up the 22-yr-extinct would give Washington a franchise cornerstone to construct around and wait on as a inequity to Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon in the end signing in completely different areas after becoming stars with the Nationals.
Soto has played for the Nationals all the arrangement by arrangement of the final three seasons and already has a World Sequence title, Silver Slugger and batting title on his resume. He slashed .351/.490/.695 with 13 dwelling runs and 37 RBI in 47 video games all the arrangement by arrangement of the shortened 2020 season.
The slugger figures to be amongst the league’s handiest avid gamers for the foreseeable future, and contract talks will absolutely utilize up with the Nationals in some unspecified time in the future. They simply have not evolved powerful of slack.