MLB insider lists Texas Rangers as favorites to trade for Juan Soto

The moment Juan Soto declined a 15-year, $440 million extension from the Washington Nationals was the one that now makes him available in trade to the Texas Rangers and all 29 other MLB clubs.

What would it take to land the 23-year-old generational talent? An absolute ransom, and nothing less. Think about the best trade package of prospects and current players you can concoct, and then double or perhaps even triple it. That’s what we’re dealing with here.

If there’s any team that can fork over that much in talent, though, the Texas Rangers are certainly among them. After just drafting Kumar Rocker, adding an ‘alpha’ prospect to an already deep farm system, the Rangers are in as a good of a position to make a Juan Soto trade as any. And New York Post MLB Insider Jon Heyman agrees, giving Texas 10-1 hypothetical odds to land the Nationals superstar:

1. Rangers: Texas showed it’s one of the big players when it spent a half of a billion dollars on the double-play combo of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien this winter. Could the Rangers go for another $500M? Odds: 10-1

MLB Insider Jon Heyman lists Texas Rangers as favorites to trade for Juan Soto

Maybe Heyman is onto something here.

The Texas Rangers desperately need outfield talent, and who better to fill that void then with a hitter many have compared to a modern-day Ted Williams (who coincidentally enough, managed the Rangers in 1972 in their first year in Arlington).

Finances didn’t seem to stand in the way of signing Marcus Semien and Corey Seager, so they shouldn’t with a chance to land Juan Soto, who for the record, deserves every penny he’s demanding, even if the final amount might seem unfathomable.

So what would it take for the Texas Rangers to trade for Soto? There’s no package that you’d enjoy shipping off to D.C., but conversations would start around Jack Leiter and Josh Jung, at least. Certainly Justin Foscue, Cole Winn, Evan Carter and Luisangel Acuna would factor into the discussion as well. And that’s not even counting potential big league talent.

A Juan Soto trade would drain the farm system without a doubt, but if there was ever a player worth sacrificing for, a true game-changing talent, this would be the guy.