Quote from fenn68 on August 2, 2022, 5:58 am

Speculation from a writer from the Washington Post … at least he is local in Washington:

Padres the “leader” in the Soto race that may include Bell with the chance the Nats take Hosmer as the cost offset (partial) but gain a massive prospect haul.

Skeptical … a last minute head fake to get STL/LAD to up their offers? Other reports suggest that WASH wants included young, low cost, long control ML pieces of quality (Carlson from STL, Lux from LAD) who SD can’t match.

As the trade deadline approaches, there is a growing sense that the Padres are the most likely landing spot for Juan Soto — and, in a twist, perhaps Josh Bell too. Multiple people have heard there’s momentum in those talks.

— Barry Svrluga (@barrysvrluga) August 2, 2022

I am very confident Juan Soto will be traded today, as I told @LaurenShehadi and @markdero7 on @MLBNetwork a moment ago.

Get ready for a monumental day in @MLB, everyone.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 2, 2022

From Rosenthal:

• Juan Soto. Will he be traded or won’t he? The Padres still seem to be the most motivated to give the Nationals what they want. The Dodgers are in, but not at the current asking price; their big lead in the NL West leaves them in a less urgent position than last year, when they acquired ace righty Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner at the deadline while in a close race for the division title. The Cardinals’ intentions are less clear. They have the pieces to get Soto, but might prefer to continue loading up on pitching, adding another starter and reliever to complement their trade for lefty José Quintana

Putting all Padres potential adds aside .. assume none … would (should) the Padres entertain a sell of some player with an AAV at something above league minimum replaced by an IL type already locked into an AAV?

Per Cot’s, Padres stand at $300K over the tax threshold … not much / will not cost much in penalties now BUT that would be the second consecutive year and would put them in a real bid if they need to go over again in 2023 … vaulting them into a 3rd consecutive year and likely bigger penalties if they need to make winter adds to remain competitive.

Soto AND Bell... LFGSD... since Seidler is flipping the bird to the Lux cap.. make it an even trifecta and get Contreras

Myers and Hosmer (+$21mil for 23 24 25.makes him 3/18 more than fair to ++ value for him)..good Veteran for the kidos to have around

The way the #Padres view it, if they indeed land Juan Soto, surrendering their most prized prospects, they still have the ability to recoup a significant part of their investment. They could still trade Soto again before he's a free agent in 2024, and get coveted prospects back.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) August 2, 2022

If the potential deal between #Nationals #Padres actually goes down the Nationals return is expected to be centered around SS C.J. Abrams,OF Robert Hassell III, LHP Adrian Morejon and at least 2 others in the transaction with Josh Bell being included with Soto going the other way

— Jim Bowden⚾️ (@JimBowdenGM) August 2, 2022

Fennigan now too...Soto + Bell and Fennigan.... to SDP

#LFGSD

This is gaining huge momentum ..I see a deal done by 9am...

From Hector Gomez CBS

Hearing Morejon, Wood, Susana, Hassell III, Abrams & Merrill for Soto, Bell & Finnegan.