St. Louis Cardinals: Argument for and Against Acquiring Juan Soto

Why the Cardinals Should Acquire Juan Soto

Plain and simple: Juan Soto is a generational player.

With respects to Goldschmidt and Arenado, Soto could go down as one of the greatest hitters this game has ever seen. He has been called this generations Ted Williams, and for good reason.

Soto is only 23 years old, and is already a World Champion, finished 9th, 5th, and 2nd in MVP voting, won two silver sluggers, and been selected to two All-Star teams (not to mention the 2022 Home Run Derby Champion). Soto currently ranks 19th all time in career OPS, with good reason to believe the best years of his career are still ahead of him.

If the Cardinals have the opportunity to add Soto to Goldschmidt, Arenado, and company, they really have to exhaust every option to make that happen.

Cardinals fans gripe consistently that the club needs to win titles. Acquiring Soto puts St. Louis squarely in win now mode, and the club has at least 3 legitimately runs at the World Series with Soto in their lineup. If the club is able to resign him, then they have 15 years of generational bat in their lineup.

Here are a few different packages that could get the deal done for St. Louis

Trade 1:

St. Louis Acquires: Juan Soto

Washington Acquires: Jordan Walker, Dylan Carlson, Matthew Liberatore, Alec Burleson, Gordon Graceffo

Trade 2:

St. Louis Acquires: Juan Soto and Patrick Corbin

Washington Acquires: Nolan Gorman, Maysn Winn, Tyler O’Neill, Michael McGreevey, Alec Burleson

These are the types of packages that it would take to acquire Soto, which is a heavy price to pay. Parting with top end prospects and young MLB talent, having to potentially take on one of the worst contracts in baseball in Corbin, and potentially giving out the largest deal in MLB history to Soto is almost unthinkable.

Yet, for a guy like Soto, you have to consider it.

If the Cardinals acquire Soto, they instantly have the best middle of the order in baseball. Soto-Goldschmidt-Arenado surrounded by the team they have right now will score runs like no other.

With this type of move, the Cardinals would likely seriously consider acquiring more pitching as well, to support the kind of postseason run they’d be looking to go on.

The club has more financial flexibility than they let on at times, so if the front office goes all in, they can pay Soto and continue to field the incredible team they’d be putting together through shrewd trades, free agent signings, and one of the best pipelines in baseball.