“I think the Padres triggered the Nationals' trap card” “So which team going to offer 4 top prospects” - MLB World trolls San Diego Padres after rookie Joey Meneses posts better stats than Juan Soto

Arizona Diamondbacks v San Diego Padres
Arizona Diamondbacks v San Diego Padres

It is no surprise to anyone that Juan Soto is easily one of the greatest young stars in the MLB today. Since entering the league back in 2018, Soto has been a dominant force in Major League Baseball. However, this season has seemed like a down year for Soto, especially since he was traded to the San Diego Padres. Perhaps the Washington Nationals found a new star in 31-year-old rookie Joey Meneses, who has been performing amazingly from the start.

Trading away Juan Soto definitely hurts for the Washington Nationals, who are currently the worst team in baseball. On the flip side, however, the Nationals might have just found a gem hidden in their farm system. Joey Meneses is a rookie this season and was finally called up after ten seasons in the minors. Out of nowhere, he has been outstanding this past month for Washington.

Over the past 28 games played, Meneses has been batting .327 and slugging a whopping .566. He also has seven home runs in this span, along with 40 hits and 16 RBI's. Although this is a small sample size, it is more than impressive from a rookie. His dominance has shown as well with the Washington Nationals being on a three-game winning streak.

During their broadcast, the St. Louis Cardinals decided to compare Juan Soto and Joey Meneses' stats. The comparison showed that Meneses had considerably better numbers during this stretch of games. Through the past 28 games, Soto has been batting at .256, with a .422 on-base percentage and a .411 slugging percentage.

The craziest thing is, these are still great stats to have for Juan Soto. However, he has been so dominant in his career that they are considered low. Surely, Soto will have a bounce-back season next year for the Padres.

Regardless, Soto will become an unrestricted free agent in 2025, where many teams will look to sign him. The sky is the limit for the deal that he can get.

Could Juan Soto recieve MLB's first $500+ million deal?

San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers
San Diego Padres v Los Angeles Dodgers

Juan Soto is just 23-years-old and has already proven to be one of the best hitters in the league. This means that any team would likely want to lock him up for a long time. We could see a deal upwards of 12-13 years in length for Soto.

In the past few seasons, multiple players of a similar caliber as Soto have received deals worth $400+ million. However, Soto will be considerably younger than these players, making it likely he will receive more in total.

An appropriate estimate could be a 12 year deal worth $42 million per year. This would total up to $504 million dollars and would be the first deal of its magnitude in MLB history.

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Edited by Gaelin Leif