During a radio interview Wednesday morning, Nationals president of baseball operations and general manager Mike Rizzo addressed the trade rumors surrounding Juan Soto.
“We are not trading Juan Soto,” Rizzo told The Sports Junkies on 106.7 The Fan. “We made it clear to his agent and to the player.”
The Nationals offered Soto a 13-year deal worth $350 million this past offseason but he turned it down and he’s eligible to become a free agent after the 2024 season. Washington has finished last in the NL East the last two years and are on pace to do the same, with a division-worst 18–33 record as of Wednesday. Trading Soto for a massive haul could make for a quick rebuild but Rizzo said the franchise is committed to Soto.
“We have every intention of building this team around Juan Soto, and we’ve spoken to his agent many, many times,” Rizzo said. “ [I] recently sat with him when he was in Washington, D.C., and made it clear to him that we’re not interested in trading him.”
He was the NL batting champion in 2020 and followed up the campaign by leading the majors in on-base percentage (.465) and walks (145) in 2021. He’s struggling at the start of the 2022 season, batting .232 with nine homers and just 16 RBIs in 51 games.
