After the National League defeated the American League in Tuesday night’s MLB All-Star Game, San Diego Padres’ slugger Juan Soto flew back to Philadelphia with the Phillies players and coaches that were in Seattle for the festivities.
Hall of Famer David Ortiz — seemingly aware that any mention of Soto being connected to another team would create a frenzy — teed the Padres’ star up by asking him how he was getting home on FOX‘s postgame coverage of the midsummer classic.
“Philadelphia will take care of me, they’re gonna take me back [to Philly], but that’s it,” Soto said with a chuckle. “We cut it off right there, because starting on Friday, we’re [the Padres] gonna go on fire.”
Phillies Nation was able to confirm that Soto did indeed fly back with the Phillies, as the Padres are slated to play in a four-game set at Citizens Bank Park beginning Friday. By all accounts, this was just a nice gesture from the Phillies before a rematch of last year’s NLCS kicks off the second half for both teams.
Despite a star-studded lineup that includes Soto, Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Xander Bogearts, the Padres were one of the most disappointing teams during the first half of the regular season. Viewed almost universally as a World Series contender entering the campaign, the Padres are 43-47, which puts them in fourth place in their own division and six games back of the final Wild Card spot in the senior circuit.
Soto, though, is putting together another excellent season individually. He’s slashing .265/.419/.479 with 15 home runs, 47 RBIs, a league-leading 83 walks and an .898 OPS.
Given that Soto can become a free agent after the 2024 season, there’s been some speculation about whether the Padres would consider trading him in advance of the Aug. 1 trade deadline. However, there’s no evidence that owner Peter Seidler and general manager A.J. Preller would be inclined to do so. In a meeting with the media earlier this month, Seidler said that the Padres are “not going to reverse course” in terms of how they’ve suddenly becoming a major spender under his ownership. Whether that means Soto will be a Padre beyond 2024 is unclear, but by all accounts, the three-time Silver Slugger Award winner isn’t going to be moved this month.
But given that the Phillies have already acquired two former Washington Nationals stars in Bryce Harper and Trea Turner, news of Soto flying back with the team is likely to ignite a ton of speculation about the Phillies eventually employing Soto. The take from here would be that while you never say never, the 24-year-old joining the Phillies during his peak feels pretty unlikely.
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