Washington Nationals fans contemplate the possibility of Juan Soto returning to the team: "Getting him back would be wild" 

San Diego Padres outfielder Juan Soto is returning to the nation's capital this week for the second time since he was traded by the Washington Nationals last August.

The first time Soto returned to Washington, D.C., was Aug. 12-14 last season, just 10 days after he was dealt to the Padres. This time around, he will play his 100th game with San Diego as the team opens a three-game series against the Nationals on Tuesday night.

Juan Soto hasn't looked nearly the part of a superstar with the Padres that he did with the Nationals. However, the Washington Post posed the question about whether or not Washington should pursue Soto in free agency when he hits the market after next season.

For the most part, Nationals fans would be very interested in the possibility of a reunion.

As a member of the Nationals, Juan Soto was the runner-up in the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year voting, and finished in the top-10 of the NL Most Valuable Player vote three times. He was the runner-up for the 2021 NL NVP after his final full season with Washington, in which he led all of MLB with 145 walks and a .465 OBP while hitting .313 with 29 home runs and knocking in 95 RBIs.

However, Soto has looked like a shell of himself since being traded to San Diego. After hitting .291 with 119 homers, 358 RBIs and 42 steals over five years with Washington, he enters Tuesday's game with a .242 average, 14 homers, 37 RBIs, and four steals in 99 games with the Padres.

He's far from the superstar he was with the Nationals, and given his offensive slide, not everyone in Washington is chomping at the bit to bring him back.

The return package going to the Nationals for Soto was a prized haul of prospects in left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, outfielder Robert Hassell III, shortstop C.J. Abrams, outfielder James Wood and right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana.

Could it be that Washington sold high on Soto?

Is Juan Soto playing himself out of a big payday?

Juan Soto #22 of the San Diego Padres slams his helmet after striking out

At the time the Nationals traded Soto to the Padres, it was estimated that he might command a contract in the $400 million range on the open market. However, his statistics with the Padres are not adding up to a player that would make that amount in free agency.