Soto: 'I'm just here to play baseball'

LOS ANGELES -- Since the day he debuted in the Majors, Juan Soto has controlled the strike zone as well as any player in the game. That's what makes his current situation with the Nationals leading up to the Trade Deadline so frustrating for him: He has no control.

Soto met the media Monday during All-Star Workout Day, discussing the 15-year, $440 million contract extension he turned down from Washington and the ensuing reports that the Nationals are now willing to entertain trade offers for the two-time All-Star.

"For me, right now, I'm just concentrating on baseball," Soto said. "I can't do anything about it; I have my hands tied. I'm just going to play as hard as I can, play baseball and forget about anything else. I don't make the decisions. If they want to make the decision, I'll just have to pack my stuff and go. If not, I'm going to keep playing baseball as hard as I can."

• MLB All-Star Game presented by Mastercard: Tuesday on FOX

Soto drew a huge crowd during the National League's media availability, as the vast majority of questions focused on his future with the Nationals. Reports surfaced on Saturday that Soto, who will be eligible for free agency after the 2024 season, had rejected Washington's latest offer, sparking talk that one of the game's best hitters would hit the trade block leading up to the Aug. 2 Trade Deadline.

"It feels pretty tough; pretty frustrating," Soto said. "I try to keep my stuff private, don't try to throw stuff out there. It feels really bad [that the public knows about the negotiations], but at the end of the day, we just have to keep playing no matter what's happened."

Seven weeks ago, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo had bluntly told a local radio station, "We are not trading Juan Soto." That was before the team's latest extension offer, which would have set a record for the biggest guaranteed contract in baseball history, albeit one with an average annual value just below $30 million.

Soto said that nobody from the club has spoken with him about the situation since the news came out on Saturday.

"I haven't talked with anybody to tell me how that changed or what was the mindset, but a couple weeks ago, they were saying they would never trade me and now all these things came out," Soto said. "It feels really uncomfortable; you don't know what to trust, but at the end of the day, it's out of my hands what decision they make."

The fact that the Nationals are for sale could also play into Soto's situation. Soto said he would love to have an opportunity to meet the new owner to discuss the future of the franchise, but until a sale is completed, that isn't possible. Agent Scott Boras, who stood alongside Soto during Monday's availability, noted that the ownership situation makes signing a long-term extension a little trickier than normal.

"When you're a player like Juan, when you're a winning player, you want to make sure there's a lot more things than dollars and cents involved, and who you're going to work for and where you're going to be the majority of your career [is part of the decision-making process]," Boras said.

Manny Machado knows what Soto is going through. His 2018 All-Star experience was dominated by trade talk, a process that came to fruition the day after the game when he was traded from the Orioles to the Dodgers. What advice would Machado offer to his fellow NL All-Star?

"Live day by day and live in the moment," Machado said. "Just try to take it all in, whatever it is. Just know that it's a family. You're at the All-Star Game, which is a very special situation. And hopefully he becomes a Padre."

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Soto's former Washington teammate Trea Turner was traded to the Dodgers last July, ending his own summer saga. He's been texting his friend as rumors swirl to make sure he's handling the situation well.

"It's not easy. Everyone thinks 'Oh, just take the money, it's a lot of money' and it is, but money isn't everything always," Turner said. "I would love to see him play his whole career in Washington, because he's a franchise player and I don't think guys like him should be let go. They should do whatever they can to keep him, in my opinion. But I don't know what his reasons are totally. I think he's ultimately going to pick what's best for his family."

Soto deflected multiple questions about his preferred destination if he was to be traded, saying, "I am 100 percent Nationals right now." He added that he "wouldn't be surprised" if he were traded by Aug. 2, but he knows that decision is out of his hands.

"I've been a National since Day 1; why should I want to change?" Soto said. "I've been here my whole life, my career; I just feel great where I'm at. Whatever decision they make, I'll just get comfortable in a couple days. At the end of the day, I don't control any of that. I'm just here to play baseball and I'll play as hard as I can."