Juan Soto rumors: This trade package makes most sense for the Nationals

The St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and Washington Nationals are seemingly the only three teams that are still in for the Juan Soto sweepstakes. One of the trade packages is better than the others.

It seems increasingly likely that the Washington Nationals will trade Juan Soto before Tuesday’s trade deadline. Now, they just have to see which trade package they like the most. According to Jim Bowden of The Athletic and CBS Sports, the St. Louis Cardinals, San Diego Padres, and the Washington Nationals are the three teams that are the finalists for Soto but it seems clear who the frontrunners are.

According to Bowden, the Cardinals have offered a package that has more young, major league talent in it. The Padres have offered more prospects in their deal. The Dodgers seem to be in a clear third place.

Now, the Nationals have to decide which deal they would prefer to go with but there should be a clear winner.

The Cardinals have the better trade offer thus far for the Nationals to get Juan Soto

With prospects, they could be the best prospect in the sport … but they are just that: prospects. The Padres are offering more of that to the Nationals for Juan Soto. The Cardinals are offering more young, MLB talent. While the players may not be as good as Soto, at least they have been in the major leagues and could contribute to the Nationals right now.

For the Cardinals, these are likely players like infielder Nolan Gorman, starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore, one of their outfielders (Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, or Harrison Bader), and some prospects.

If the Nationals decide to go with the Cardinals deal, they immediately become a better MLB team. The Nationals are the worst team in baseball as they have a record of 35-68. If they take a prospect-heavy deal, they maybe won’t compete for another five seasons, if the prospects even pan out.

With a deal that has MLB players and/or MLB-ready players, they could easily be contenders in 2024 or 2025, moving up their window of contention while leaving less to chance on prospects.

The Padres might have to increase their offer as they need Soto more due to their outfield. With the Cardinals, they need starting pitching more than an outfielder so when push comes to shove in the next 48 hours, something will have to give … or the Nats might not trade Soto at all.