Yankees also proving to be winners of Mets’ Juan Soto coup

You know what’s almost as valuable as acquiring Juan Soto?

Losing Juan Soto.

Three teams have had to deal with maximizing Soto’s value as he left. And all three teams — so far — seem to have recovered well after Soto turned down their money.

The Nationals made a 15-year, $440 million extension offer to Soto during the 2022 season, but he declined and was eventually traded to the Padres. The Nationals received James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, and CJ Abrams in return, who are currently leading in Wins Above Replacement (Baseball Reference) for the Nats. Wood, in particular, is showing great potential, and prospects Jarlin Susana and Robert Hassell III are also part of the promising package.