Nationals cheap travel plans can’t help Juan Soto rumors

The Washington Nationals aren’t doing themselves any favors if they want to keep Juan Soto. At this point, they might as well trade him.

The Nats reportedly made Juan Soto travel a cheap commercial flight to Los Angeles, rather than just flying him charter like the majority of other All-Stars.

As it turns out, Washington will make Soto a $440 million contract offer, but won’t pay for a private jet. Who knew THAT was the line? Soto got to Los Angeles in the wee hours of the morning on the day of the Home Run Derby and still won.

Nationals: Juan Soto flew commercial to the All-Star Game

While this makes his feat all the more impressive, it still proves they perhaps don’t value him as much as they claim to. All of this is per Scott Boras, as told by Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein:

"“The Atlanta Braves arrived [in Los Angeles] five hours earlier than Juan Soto did,” Boras said, according to Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein. “You know why? Because their team chartered a plane. Juan Soto had to fly on a commercial flight and wait in an airport for two hours and get here at 1:30 in the morning and have to compete in the Home Run Derby. And that’s something that Major League Baseball did not take care of and that’s something that the Washington Nationals did not take care of.”"

Soto turned down Washington’s $440 million contract, their most recent offer, because his agency wasn’t happy with the AAV in the deal, or the current ownership situation. The 23-year-old commented on that situation today, stating that he has yet to actually meet the new ownership team.

“For the rebuild, first of all, we got to know the new owner. Nobody knows the new owners, so for me I would love to get the new owner and see what is on his mind …,” Soto said, per Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post.

So, as you can see, the Nats have yet to bring out the big guns.