Cardinals biggest threats for Juan Soto might surprise you

The St. Louis Cardinals are considered favorites to land Juan Soto — at least in terms of pre-trade deadline conversations. But who are they competing with?

St. Louis has a unique blend of highly-ranked prospects and MLB-ready talent that makes them an attractive fit for a player like Soto. Washington would be able shorten their rebuild, rather than taking on pure prospect capital — which can sometimes feel like taking a dive into the unknown.

The likes of Nolan Gorman, Matthew Liberatore, Jordan Walker and more would be part of any Juan Soto trade conversation. It’s unknown at this time exactly what, or who, the Cardinals offered for the 23-year-old outfielder.

Evidently, it was enough to get the ball rolling.

Cardinals: Biggest threats to Juan Soto trade

The biggest threats to any Juan Soto trade are actually a couple of sleepers — the San Diego Padres and Seattle Mariners.

The Padres would have to trade CJ Abrams and more, but AJ Preller is a gunslinger at the trade deadline and could very well get a deal done at any time. San Diego has two more prospects in MLB Pipeline’s top-100, both of whom could be involved in a deal as well.

Seattle, meanwhile, is a bit of a head-scratcher, but check many of the same boxes as the Cards. The Mariners are ready to win now, and the addition of Soto would put them over the top in the Wild Card and moving forward.

While Julio Rodriguez is off-limits, the likes of Noelvi Marte, Harry Ford and Edwin Arroyo, all 20 years old or under, are ranked in the top-100 prospects per MLB Pipeline. Marte is 19th in all of baseball at just 20 years of age.

The youth of those three prospects makes them especially promising in terms of a potential return for Soto.