Juan Soto recently rejected a 15-year, $440 million contract extension, reports say.
The Nationals have seemingly taken Soto’s declining a bit personally. According to Soto’s agent Scott Boras, the team refused to charter a flight for Soto to head to Los Angeles for the All-Star weekend events.
Per Sports Illustrated’s Stephanie Apstein:
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Obviously, it’s not a great look for the Nationals to not take care of their lone All-Star, and any hopes of repairing the seemingly frayed relationship look to be out the window, along with their hopes of contention in the near future.
Washington is reportedly entertaining trade talks for its superstar outfielder, with the Mets, Yankees, Padres and other heavy hitters in on those conversations. It’s not often that a young player of Soto’s caliber hits the trade block, so expect a big package heading back, whenever it happens.
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Money talks in pro sports, but this type of seeming pettiness on behalf of Washington likely doesn’t send a great message to the rest of the players on the roster, rookies and veterans alike.
Now, the baseball world waits to see where Soto lands next. Hopefully, they’ll charter a flight for him.
