It’s anybody’s guess where Nationals’ perennial MVP candidate could be headed, but we know what Washington will demand in return if he’s going to the Bay Area.
Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reported on KNBR Monday that the Nationals have their sights set on Giants’ pitching prospect Kyle Harrison, considered the No. 2 prospect in SF’s system. At just 20 years old, Harrison is already dealing at Double-A Richmond, posting a 2.98 ERA and 1.05 in nine starts.
“Yeah, he’s their main target in any sort of deal,” Slusser said of the Nationals. “Now, I think the Giants could maybe change that if they added somebody like maybe Logan Webb in there, but they’re not going to. The Giants basically have two untouchables: Webb and Harrison. So it’s going to take one or the other. And Harrison’s they guy [the Nationals] want.
“If I’m the Giants I very strongly consider it. You can say what a guy projects out as and Harrison projects out as a very good big league pitcher. You look at the numbers and it’s not an exact science. An injury here, or you reach a level where you kind of don’t keep developing the way you’re projected to.”
With Webb off the table, the Giants’ potential package would be chock full of prospects, considering the dearth of young talent on their big-league roster. Slusser thinks that offloading just about any and all prospects would be worth landing Soto, even if he’s under team control for only two full seasons.
“This is why they are prospects and not established major leaguers. And Juan Soto is established. He’s a guy whose numbers put him in elite company for the age he is. Yes, there’s no guarantee he would sign an extension with the Giants. Sounds to me that teams that are in on him are not looking to do that. They are not looking to get guarantee of a long-term deal. Scott Boras kind of frowns on that kind of stuff, anyway.
“I think you know if you acquire him, you have the upper hand on an eventual long-term deal, or signing him at the end of his club control. Just the fact that you went out an got him is a) a big deal for him, but b) if he likes where he is and he’s got to like where he is, you have the upper hand to potentially re-sign him.”
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