Nationals Struggle at 14-28 as Reports Tie Juan Soto to Possible Trade Talk

The Washington Nationals reached the end of the week at 14-28, a record that leaves them with half as many wins as the division-leading New York Mets. After five playoff appearances in an eight-year span from 2012 to 2021, the club now faces a very different set of midseason decisions, with the focus shifting from adding to a contender to trading productive but expensive players for prospects.

The most striking possibility surfaced this past week. ESPN's Buster Olney, writing in a story for ESPN+, reported that the team might be willing to move Juan Soto. The 23-year-old All-Star is the face of the franchise and its best player. He is under team control for two more years before reaching free agency.

As a client of agent Scott Boras, Soto is expected to test the market, which could give deep-pocketed clubs a chance to outbid a franchise that may be in the process of being sold, or already sold, by then. The Nationals also traded Trea Turner less than a year ago, a year before his walk season. The author of this notebook argued that moving Soto would be comparable to trading Ryan Zimmerman in 2010 and called such a deal a dark day for baseball in the District.

In the division, the Mets are 28-15 and have won 14 straight games after a loss. They will be without Max Scherzer for six to eight weeks because of an oblique strain, while Jacob deGrom has not pitched all season. The rest of the NL East is struggling, however. Atlanta and Philadelphia are both 19-22 and Miami is 18-22, so all three are under .500 about a quarter of the way through the season. The Nationals are five games out of fourth place.

Baltimore, at 17-25, lost three of four to the AL East-leading Yankees, then took two of three from second-place Tampa Bay, with both wins coming in extra innings. The series win was not enough to keep the Orioles ahead of Boston, which has won five straight and nine of its last twelve to climb out of the division cellar. Catcher Adley Rutschman, the organization's top prospect, made his debut and tripled on Saturday.

Among Washington's standouts last week, Keibert Ruiz hit .412 with four walks, and Lane Thomas had four extra-base hits and a team-high five RBI. Leadoff man Cesar Hernandez batted .333 and scored a team-best four runs. Carl Edwards Jr. threw 3.1 scoreless innings over three appearances, and Steve Cishek posted three scoreless innings in three games. Aaron Sanchez pitched five solid innings in Sunday's win over Milwaukee, becoming the only Nationals starter to earn a win since Sanchez did so on May 11.

There were also struggles. Patrick Corbin allowed five runs over five innings Saturday and fell to 0-7 with a 6.60 ERA. Austin Voth gave up seven runs over 1.1 innings across two games, a 47.25 ERA. Josh Bell went 1-for-23 (.056), Soto hit .143, and Nelson Cruz drove in one run. The trio combined for four RBI over six games.

Tuesday brings a matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers, when Josiah Gray will face his former team for the first time since being traded last summer. Ruiz, who was part of the same deal, is likely to be in the lineup. Dodgers starter Walker Buehler enters 5-1 with a 2.89 ERA. On Saturday, the Nationals host Colorado at 4:05 p.m., a later start than the usual afternoon and evening times, on a day when many pools open.