Washington Nationals superstar Juan Soto is the kind of player every single MLB team should trade the farm for.
But not every team has a farm the Nationals would consider a fair price for the 23-year-old outfielder.
The Giants, by all accounts, have a healthy minor league system with several top 100 prospects who are highly regarded. But are the likes of Marco Luciano, Kyle Harrison and Luis Matos enough to get the Nationals to the table?
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Joc Pederson, one of two players representing the Giants in the 2022 MLB All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, isn't sure San Francisco has what it would take to get Soto in orange and black.
“I don’t think we have enough players to go after Soto,” Pederson said (H/T The San Francisco Chronicle's John Shea). “It’s going to take two farm systems to get him. Logan (Webb), Yaz (Mike Yastrzemski), LaMonte (Wade Jr.), Joey (Bart), the whole team.”
Backing up Pederson's feelings, Baseball America -- one of the pre-eminent prospect websites -- compiled a list of the top 10 teams with the prospects required to trade for Soto. The Giants were not among those 10 teams.
Even worse for the Giants and their fans, Baseball America believes the Los Angeles Dodgers are best equipped to put together a package of players suitable enough for the Nationals to trade Soto.
San Francisco Giants
While Pederson was matter-of-fact about the Giants' chances, starting pitcher Carlos Rodón was more diplomatic about the whole scenario.
“I think it’d be great. I think it would be amazing if we could put something together to get him,” Rodón said via Shea. “He’s a hell of a player, that’s for sure.”
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A player of Soto's age and ability rarely, if ever, hits the trade market. It's going to take an unprecedented package of prospects and possibly major-league level players in order to pry him away from the Nationals. And that's before signing him to what might be the largest contract in MLB history. Soto reportedly rejected a 15-year, $440 million contract offer from Washington, prompting all the trade talk.
The Giants are likely to want a seat at the table when the Nationals decide to trade him. Whether they have enough to be one of the final teams at the table remains to be seen. But Pederson isn't betting on it.