While the likelihood of the White Sox to acquire Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto is slim to none, there is no doubt they are inquiring despite recent reports that they aren’t even in the running. Any contender is well within contention for Soto’s services. With the recent trade the Cincinnati Reds made with the Seattle Mariners sending their ace Luis Castillo to Seattle for the Mariners’ three of their top five prospects, it only means that the Sox are going to have to shell out a lot of prospects if they want the hottest commodity.
So this article will highlight how the Pale Hose can acquire Soto. Like said earlier, the likelihood is low for them to trade for Soto, but it certainly will take a fortune. If the Nationals were smart, and their general manager Mike Rizzo has proven to be that, he should be asking for at least five players in the Top 30 prospect pool for the Sox. It might even have to be more as it could deplete the Sox’ already bad farm system.
Now on to who would the Sox have to give up to acquire Soto. The king’s ransom it would take to bring him to the South Side. In this article, both scenarios will be looked at no matter how highly unlikely it is.
The first scenario is similar to the Castillo trade where the Sox would have to give up three of their top five prospects in the trade. Realistically, the three players would have to be Colson Montgomery, Oscar Colas, and Yoelkis Cespedes. Unfortunately, to get Soto, at least two more from the Top 30 would have to be sent to Washington. Which players? That’s anyone’s guess honestly, but it probably would make sense to trade Andrew Dahlquist and Micker Adolfo. That’s a lot to give up, but Soto is a premium player.
For the second scenario, this would be probably the more likely scenario as Soto is more of a premium player than Castillo is. So likely, Montgomery, Colas, and Cespedes would still be involved, but after that, it’s going to take a plethora of prospects to acquire Soto. Again, while it’s anyone’s guess who gets traded, it would seem to be that Dahlquist and Adolfo are also included as well as Norge Vera/Jose Rodriguez, Wes Kath, Jared Kelley, and then Emilio Vargas as a sweetener. That should be more than enough to acquire Soto.
How realistic are both these packages? Incredibly unrealistic. Would they be good ideas? Absolutely not! This should at least give an idea how much it would take to bring Soto to the South Side. These would be horrible trades not only for the Nationals, but also the Sox and probably more for both of them. Essentially that depletes an already weak minor league system for a club that lacks depth. Not necessarily the front office’s fault, but it certainly makes it harder.
Now, it’s hard to gauge who Rick Hahn would be willing to part with to get a player of his caliber or what would be a realistic package. Washington is going to listen to teams that have better farm systems and understandably so, but the Sox would have to part with more than wanted or even should be. That being said, the farm system is better than some think and the Sox can make smarter moves acquiring other players not named Soto. Soto is an amazing player no doubt, but is he worth it for the Sox for what they have to give up? Absolutely not. Hahn has a better idea than most people on what to do at the deadline, so he probably knows what it would cost to get Soto, but is probably looking at other players already as the team has a talented core. The Sox don’t need Soto, but they do need players who can improve them.
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