Giants: Joc Pederson played down Juan Soto rumors, and fans aren’t happy

When Joc Pederson played down the idea of the Giants trading for Juan Soto, he probably didn’t realize he’d be turning fans against him.

Now that Juan Soto appears to be on the trade block, tons of teams are going to be vying for his services before the trade deadline arrives at the start of August.

Many expect the Giants to be among the suitors for Soto. The bigger question is whether they have what it takes to get a trade done.

Pitcher Carlos Rodón told the San Francisco Chronicle he’d love to see it happen.

“I think it’d be great. I think it would be amazing if we could put something together to get him,” Rodón said.

Joc Pederson was a lot less optimistic.

“I don’t think we have enough players to go after Soto,” Pederson told 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.”

Some Giants fans really didn’t like that answer.

Giants: Joc Pederson played down Juan Soto rumors, and fans aren’t happy

On 95.7 The Game, Bonta Hill went after Pederson for his comments.

“Great endorsement Joc Pederson, a guy on the one-year deal speaking for this organization. I’m over Joc,” Hill said before going off on a rant about how Pederson didn’t retaliate against Tommy Pham when he slapped him over a fantasy football dispute.

It’s a wild response to what was, at worst, an ill-advised but truthful answer from Pederson. He would have been better off playing it like Rodón and simply saying he’d love to play with Soto.

But he wasn’t saying anything that isn’t true. San Francisco has a strong farm system but they can’t exactly compete with the packages that other teams like the Dodgers or Cardinals can offer.