Juan Soto trade rumors: Padres could add another star in deal with Nationals

The San Diego Padres have been in pursuit of Juan Soto for weeks now. But he isn’t the only star that the Padres are pursuing on the Nationals.

The San Diego Padres have been one of the three reported finalists for Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto, along with the St. Louis Cardinals in the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Nationals are looking to trade the All-Star outfielder after he turned down a 15-year, $440 million contract extension a few weeks ago.

But, now, the Padres aren’t only looking at trading for Juan Soto from the Washington nationals. They are also looking to trade for former All-Star first baseman Josh Bell.

The Padres are also pursuing Josh Bell in addition to Juan Soto

The Padres are adding more to a potential Juan Soto mammoth trade package as they are also “aggressively” trying to get first baseman Josh Bell in a Soto trade with the Nationals, according to Jon Heyman of The New York Post.

If the Padres can trade both Soto and Bell, it would be a huge coup for them.

Bell is a free agent at the end of the season but if it wasn’t for a logjammed first base category and for Soto representing the Nats (who are the worst team in baseball by record), he would have been an All-Star again this year.

On the season, Bell is leading the majors in games played (103) and he is hitting .301/.384/.493 with an OPS+ of 153. He also has 14 home runs, 57 RBI, and 24 doubles. His batting average is fifth in the NL and his on-base percentage is fourth. That double total is eighth in the NL and the OPS+ is seventh. His 113 hits are third in the league.

The potential problem for the Padres would be that they would have three players that can only play first base in Eric Hosmer, Luke Voit, and Bell. But they could look to flip one of them (almost certainly Voit since he has a better contract).