Famous slugger Juan Soto has expressed disappointment over his former team’s decision to publicize his contract extension offer. The San Diego Padres recently bought Soto. He earlier played for the Washington Nationals.
Juan Soto is an outfielder for the San Diego Padres. The Washington Nationals drafted him into MLB in 2018. Nicknamed ‘Childish Bambino’, Soto is popular for his hard-hitting skills with the bat. He won the Home Run Derby this year.
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Soto was an instrumental force behind the Nationals’ World Series victory in 2019. He is also a two-time All-Star player. So it’s obvious that the Nationals were not willing to lose a player of his caliber. Therefore, the team authorities gave him a contract extension offer of a massive $440 Million. It was the large-scale publication of the news that hurt Soto.
Juan Soto opens up about being pushed out of his comfort zone
At present, the Nationals are struggling with a horrible win-loss record of 36-74. Failing to make any sort of impact through this edition, the team is already out of any sort of contention. In times like these, Soto was a rare bright ray of hope for the team. But both the Nationals and Soto have parted ways as a result of broken trust.
The Nationals earlier planned to never trade him away. But the authorities suddenly made a colossal $440 Million contract extension offer. However, Soto rejected the deal. He was further hurt when the whole incident got handed over to media outlets.
ESPN network recently shared a short clip of an interview with Soto on their YouTube channel. The interview host talked to him about the whole matter. The host asked him, “Was that hard when the number came out? Were you uncomfortable with that?”
"Stay here, stay here!"
Juan Soto tried to speak it into existence 😅 pic.twitter.com/jZMbUVHDvU
— ESPN (@espn) August 8, 2022
Soto replied saying, “It was very tough. It was uncomfortable. Because I was trying to get things private. Keep the talk in, and all that kind of stuff. But they just throw the number out there and it feels really uncomfortable. It really shocked me and it feels really painful.”
The scenario in the aftermath
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Soto has revealed that he has got no angry feelings towards the Nationals. He began a new chapter in his baseball career with the Padres. Now he just wants to move on like the champion player that he is. He had a fine outing in his first game for the Padres against the Colorado Rockies.
Just talked to Soto. He said he has no hard feelings toward Rizzo or the Nationals and admitted he never actually thought it would happen. Said Boras woke him up with a call yesterday telling him it would likely happen. Still surprised him when it did.
— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) August 3, 2022
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Do you think Juan Soto can help the San Diego Padres become a champion team?