CBS Sports has already ranked Soto’s most likely landing spots and explained why opposing front offices expect veteran left-hander Patrick Corbin to be part of the potential trade. The former proved to be a fruitful exercise, as every team ranked in our top five — the St. Louis Cardinals, Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees, San Francisco Giants and Seattle Mariners — have checked in on Soto, according to Reports.
Today, CBS Sports will continue our Soto coverage by breaking down and ranking those five teams — plus the New York Mets and San Diego Padres — in a few categories related to their chances of landing Soto: the top prospects them, their remarkable youngsters on the big league roster and their financial flexibility.
The teams are ranked in ascending order based on how well we feel they align with the Nationals’ desires. The difference between this and the original landing spot is that the latter was based on what we thought would happen. This is based on how we feel about those teams, regardless of the likelihood of a trade going down. We have, however, included an “X-factor” component where we explain the larger circumstances that should be considered relevant to the real-world process. This element helps to explain the discrepancies between classifications.
Keep in mind that this is more art than science — different people feel differently about different situations — and it’s for entertainment purposes only. In the ranking.
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7. San Francisco Giants
Top Prospects: The Giants don’t have the top prospect that some of the other teams represented in this article have. Marco Luciano and lefty Kyle Harrison are their best prospects. Luciano has a chance to be positive, but may need to move to third base once he matures. Harrison, a former third-round pick, has the makings of a promising three-pitch mix. He has struck out nearly 14 batters per nine in nine Double-A starts, though he also gives up a free pass every other inning. Outfielder Luis Matos, who has struggled this year, could also enter the equation. The Giants have a variety of big names on their farm, including Heliot Ramos and Patrick Bailey. neither is likely to suffice as more than a throwaway type. Relevant MLB Rookies: Let’s put it this way: the Giants have zero position players or starters on their current roster who are under 25 years old. Unless the Giants are willing to move Logan Webb — or the Nationals greatly overvalue Joey Bart — it doesn’t make sense to stay in this particular division much longer. Payroll situation: The Giants are poised to make some huge investments. Their three highest-paid players, Carlos Rodón, Evan Longoria and Brandon Belt, could be off the books this winter. The Giants only have one guaranteed commitment beyond next winter, and are already running a payroll well below what they were capable of in the past. It just seems a matter of who and when the Giants pay. X-factor: The Giants have drawn dark horse runs on Giancarlo Stanton and Bryce Harper in recent years, suggesting they’re willing to break the bank for a premiere slugger. Soto would certainly fit the bill, and Farhan Zaidi knows a thing or two about chasing superstars from his time as a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers front office. The reality is that the Giants would probably have to leverage their financial situation by taking a lot of bad money in order to make a reasonable deal with the Nationals.
6. Seattle Mariners
Top prospects: The Mariners have graduated several highly touted youngsters in recent years, but still have a blue chipper in the form of shortstop Noelvi Marte, CBS Sports’ No. 11 entering the spring. He’s pitched well in High-A despite playing a full season at age 20, and has the kind of big power that’s rare from a player who has a chance to stay in the top six for a long time. Marte is the only Mariners prospect who would crack our top 20. Still, smooth Edwin Arroyo is another promising shortstop who had boosters in last year’s draft thanks in part to his youth. He won’t turn 19 until next month, near the end of his first full pro season. The Mariners could also offer recent first-round picks like right-hander Emerson Hancock or catcher Harry Ford. Related MLB rookies: The Nationals would be justified in asking the Mariners for center fielder Julio Rodriguez, but we’ll file that as unlikely. Rodríguez has turned into a passable center, and he’s done so without losing the attacking skill set that should see him play in the middle of the pack. The Mariners could theoretically offer one of their other pre-arb outfielders, such as Kyle Lewis, Jarred Kelenic or Taylor Trammell, but each has red flags in their games that make them less interesting than Rodríguez. The most enticing and perhaps most realistic route for the Nationals would be to claim one of Seattle’s young starting pitchers, with George Kirby looking more expendable than Logan Gilbert. Perhaps the Nationals would take a chance on outfielder Abraham Toro, whose long-awaited breakout season may never come. Payroll situation: The Mariners, because of having so many young players on the roster, entered the season with a lower Open Day payroll than they had in 2007. They are more than $90 million away from the tax cap and have just two long-term commitments (those owned by Robbie Ray and JP Crawford) with an AAV exceeding $10 million. They should be able to gamble, either taking dead money or signing a player to a lucrative long-term contract, as desired. X-factor: Jerry Dipoto loves to trade, but rarely shows a willingness to participate at the top of the market. Maybe he’ll change his mind now that the Mariners have a real shot at making the playoffs for the first time since 2001?
5. New York Mets
Top prospects: The Mets traded their 2020 first-round pick for outfielder Pete Crowe-Armstrong at the deadline. They dug into their farm system again to get Chris Bassitt in the winter. Even so, the Mets have plenty of interesting prospects who could be headed the way of the Nationals. That includes catcher Francisco Álvarez and third baseman Brett Baty. Álvarez is one of, if not the, top catching prospect in the minors — a distinction that may cause the Nationals to value him in a way they wouldn’t with other catchers more similar in value to Keibert Ruiz. Baty, meanwhile, seems destined to be promoted to Triple-A at some point, sooner rather than later. Outfielder Alex Ramirez, infielders Ronny Mauricio and Matt Vietos and right-hander Matt Allan could be used to round out a package. (For those wondering, MLB rules prohibit teams from trading draft picks this soon, meaning the Mets’ recent first-round picks, catcher Kevin Parada and shortstop Jett Williams, are off limits.) Relevant MLB youngsters: The Mets do not have a single player or starter on their active roster younger than 27 years old. (Even Tyler McGill, currently on the injured list, has already blown out 27 candles.) No point in criticizing that, but it does mean the Mets will have to lean heavily on their farm system. Payroll situation: The Mets have the highest payroll in the majors and are certain to exceed the tax cap by $60 million, a cap that was installed specifically because of owner Steve Cohen. How much higher is Cohen willing to push? It’s a good question. We should get an answer on that front sooner rather than later, regardless of Soto’s pursuit. That’s because the Mets need to resolve the looming free agency of two of their best players, ace Jacob deGrom and closer Edwin Diaz, and do so with minimal money coming off the books. X-factor: The biggest hurdle facing the Mets, in our opinion, is the possibility that the Nationals won’t want to trade Soto inside the NL East. If that’s the case, there might not be a package the Mets could offer that would change the Nationals’ minds. The same could be true if the Nationals insist on bringing back at least one player who has already achieved some level of big league success.
4. New York Yankees
Top Prospects: One of the main cited reasons the Yankees didn’t sign Carlos Correa or Corey Seager was their belief in stockpiling young prospects in the outfield. Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza both compiled breakout efforts last year and emerged as the top farm prospects. (New York also has Alexander Vargas and Oswald Cabrera.) Both have their share. We’d summarize their games as follows: Volpe has the higher offensive ceiling while Peraza is more certain to stick at shortstop. The Yankees have other interesting prospects, including outfielders Everson Pereira and Jason…
