Yankees’ Juan Soto ‘100%’ Thought He’d Retire with Nationals: ‘Never Wanted to Leave’

Doric SamFebruary 28, 2024

New York Yankees/Getty Images

Despite being one of the best young players in MLB, New York Yankees slugger Juan Soto is already playing for his third franchise.

While speaking to The Athletic’s Chris Kirschner, Soto revealed that he had hoped to spend his entire career with his first team, the Washington Nationals.

“Yeah, 100 percent. I never wanted to leave Washington,” Soto said. “It was a great team. I knew everybody there, from the bottom all the way to the top. I was really comfortable and it felt like home for me. I was happy. I had a house in Washington. I was really comfortable up there.”

Soto made his MLB debut with Washington in 2018 and immediately became an impact player, earning National League Rookie of the Year honors that season. The following year, he helped lead the Nationals to their first World Series title in franchise history, hitting .333 with three home runs and seven RBI in the seven-game series against the Houston Astros. In 2020, he won the NL batting title.

The Nationals traded Soto and first baseman Josh Bell to the San Diego Padres at the 2022 trade deadline in exchange for six players, one of the largest trade hauls in MLB history. Washington has finished last in the NL East in each of the last four seasons since winning the World Series.

“Out of nowhere, they made that decision,” Soto said of the trade. “They thought it was the best thing for the team. I just respected it because they were really clear with me. That’s one of the things I really respected from (general manager Mike) Rizzo. He was really clear about the trade stuff. But definitely I never thought I was going to leave D.C. I was really thinking I was going to stay there for my whole career.”

The Yankees acquired Soto from the Padres in December. He will earn $31 million this season before entering free agency in the offseason. New York is certainly hoping a potential one-year rental of Soto results in the franchise’s first World Series title since 2009.