After rejecting $440 million, Juan Soto's ($500M?) future is the talk of MLB All-Star Game

LOS ANGELES — This may be the All-Star Game, celebrating the greatest players in the game, but on the eve of the baseball’s midsummer classic, it felt more like the Juan Soto Open.

Everywhere you turned, the conversation was about Soto.

Players openly recruiting him, imploring their own teams to trade for him, with reporters asking just how much he’d like playing in every city from Los Angeles to New York to San Diego to Seattle to Chicago.

“I hope he’s wearing this uniform, man," San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado said. “I mean, wherever he goes, he’ll be impactful. He’s a generational talent. He goes to be a a guy that helps bring in a championship wherever he goes, so hopefully.

“He’s such a freaking damn good a-- player.’’

It was no different talking to the New York Yankees players, who, yes, have already heard the speculation.

“I love that rumor, too,’’ Yankees ace Gerrit Cole said. “Those type of rumors I think we need to keep on the front page.

“All I can do is the praying hands emoji 🙏.’’

PUJOLS & CABRERA: Future Hall of Famers are both 2022 All-Stars

NEWSLETTER: Get the latest sports news straight to your inbox

Dodger Stadium was Rumor Central with everyone speculating where he could be headed, or if he’ll even be traded by the Aug. 2 trade deadline.

The Washington Nationals revealed Saturday that Soto was on the trade block after rejecting a record 15-year, $440 million contract earlier this month.

“I would hate to see him go to a team that we got to play down the stretch,’’ Yankees outfielder  Aaron Judge said. “It would be fun to see him in New York or wherever he wants to be. He’s definitely a game-changer for sure.’’

To top it off on Monday night, Soto went out and won the Home Run Derby.

It’s going to take a team giving up three or four of their top prospects and a few young major league players just to get into the bidding war, while also having the optimism they can actually afford to sign him before he’s eligible for free agency after the 2024 season.

The package of players needed, several executives told USA TODAY Sports, likely will be too steep for any team to pull off a trade in just three weeks. More time is going to be needed this winter to make a proper valuation.

Then again, it’s Juan Soto, one of the greatest players in the game, who can impact three playoff races in the next 2 ½ seasons before any decision is needed how much it will take to keep him.

We’ll give you a hint: It will probably be at least $500 million, averaging perhaps $40 million a year.

While everyone spent the day trying to figure out which team makes the most sense to acquire Soto, the only one not enjoying the rampant rumors was Soto himself.

Soto made it clear that he was angry and frustrated at the Nationals’ decision to leak his contract negotiations, while he openly wonders why they had an about-face after saying he wouldn’t be traded a month ago.

“A couple weeks ago they were saying they will never trade me," Soto said. “And now all these things come out. It feels really uncomfortable. You don't know what to trust."

To Soto, it makes more sense for the Nationals to wait since the club is being sold, letting the new owner make the decision, but hey, it’s not his call.

“At the end of the day it's out of my hands,’’ he said.

All Soto can do now is control his performance on the field, and if he needs any guidance or a role model in how to handle it, he needs to look no further than Judge.

Judge rejected the Yankees’ seven-year, $213.5 million contract offer this spring, and also was agitated that the Yankees openly announced the contract he rejected.

Well, all Judge has done since is make the offer look like chump change.

Judge is hitting .284 with a major-league leading 33 homers, 70 RBI and a .983 OPS, and the favorite to win the American League MVP award.

There’s no reason, Judge says, why Soto can’t do the same, blocking out all of the distractions for as long as he remains with the Nationals.

“He just needs to focus on the game,’’ Judge said. “That’s why he’s got agents. That’s why he has people surrounding him, supporting him, helping him with those big decisions, because those are life-changing decisions. Those are decisions that help set up his family, grandkids, future kids down the road.

“I think the biggest thing is to let those people handle that, and go out there and continue to be the All-Star he is.’’

Sure, there’s plenty of risk rejecting massive contract offers. Players get hurt. They struggle at times. And folks can be cruel, berating players if they don’t live up to the contracts they believe they deserve.

Pardon Judge for not even thinking about it.

“I don't live in fear,’’ Judge said. “The money, the contract, stuff like that, has never been why I play this game. I play this game because I love it. God gave me a gift to be here. I never took that for granted. So for me, it’s never been about the money. I want to play for the Yankees. I want be here for a long time. If it works out, it works out. If if it doesn’t, it doesn’t. It’s out of my hands. I can’t really control that kind of stuff.

“For me, it’s just about focusing on the game, and playing the game. If I’m a free agent, and we decide where we want to go, we’ll figure all of that out later.

“So, there is nothing worry about it.’’

It’s the same approach Soto plans to take, he said, knowing that it may sound insane to reject a deal beyond his wildest imagination growing up in the Dominican Republic, but it’s a matter of principal. If Mike Trout is worth $36 million a year, and Soto is only 23 years old, shouldn’t he earn more money per season?

The way he and his agent, Scott Boras figure it, he will earn $60 million over the next two seasons in salary arbitration, which turns the contract into a 13-year, $380 million deal, paying just $29.2 million a season..

The Nats argue that two-time MVP Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million contract three years ago, and they are willing to pay Soto $110 more million.

“He’s worth every penny he gets,’’ said Machado, who signed a 10-year, $300 million contract in 2019.

He could be worth every prospect a team surrenders to trade for him, too.

“Juan is a special player, he’s a special talent all-around,’’ Judge said. “I could sit here and talk about he does on the field. He’s also a leader in that clubhouse, too, especially at a young age.

“So anywhere he goes, if he ends up getting traded or the Nationals work out a deal and he stays there a long time, he’s going to help his team win a lot of ballgames.’’

In the meantime, the rumor mill is just beginning, where everyone’s imagination is already running wild.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Juan Soto trade rumors, $500M future are talk of the MLB All-Star Game