2023 ended up being s final year in San Diego, as the Padres swapped the star outfielder to the Yankees in last December. Given the Padres inconsistent play during their disappointing 82-80 season, there was plenty of trade buzz surrounding Soto during the year, Eric Haase Jersey and a trade began to look like more of a reality once reports filtered out after the season that San Diego was looking to reduce payroll. However, some attempts were made to keep Soto in SoCal via a long-term extension. Agent Scott Boras told that former Padres owner Peter Seidler had started to explore a multi-year deal last summer. Peter called about wanting to pursue [Soto], and there were discu sions about wanting to keep him. And unfortunately, it did not work out because of [Seidlers] health , Boras said. Seidler in November at age 63, leaving behind a huge legacy during his three-plus years as the Padres majority shareholder. Eager to bring San Diego its first World Series championship, Seidler turned the Padres into one of baseballs biggest spenders. Players like , , , , and were all signed to pricey extensions, while was signed to an 11-year, $280MM free agent contract. Extending Soto wouldve required the biggest expenditure of them all, considering Sotos youth and contractual situation. The three-time All-Star is set to hit free agency this upcoming winter (just after his 26th birthday), and has already posted numbers during his seven MLB seasons that indicate a future spot in Cooperstown. Soto already a 15-year, $440MM extension offer from the Nationals in 2022 before Washington traded him to San Diego, and a big 2024 campaign in the Bronx will surely move his asking price even further into the stratosphere. Boras is sure to seek far beyond the $460MM present value of s contract, and seek a new record guarantee in Sotos next contract. Ohtanis deal with the Dodgers wasnt yet a reality when Seidler and Sotos camp talked last summer, though it wouldnt have been surprising if a mega-deal had been reached. As Heyman puts it, Seidler did everything to win without regard to payroll or tax, and some connected to the team say they believe a Soto deal in San Diego would have gotten done had Seidler lived. There is also the interesting detail that the early discu sions mightve been limited to Seidler himself, as Heyman writes that the talks were kept quiet at the time (even to folks around the team). Negotiating directly with owners has been a common move for Boras over the years in finding big contracts for his clients, and the agent has explained the tactic by simply noting that since the owners are the ones ultimately signing off on the huge deals, why not talk directly to the person signing the checks? Unsurprisingly, front office executives and even rival owners havent always been impre sed with this strategy, as it can be seen as an agent bypa sing the usual methods of negotiating with a GM or president of baseball operations (who might have qualms about signing a Boras client for various reasons). It isnt known if Padres president of baseball ops A.J. Preller knew about Seidlers talks with Boras, or even if Preller wouldve had any objections Preller is a famously aggre sive exec in his own right, and surely wouldve welcomed having Soto remain a Padre for years to come. Extending Soto wouldve added yet another big contract to the Padres books, and complicated the plans to reduce payroll that were reportedly well before Seidlers pa sing. The Padres ended up cutting payroll rather drastically in going from $254.5MM in 2023 to around $167.2MM at the start of the 2024 season (all figures via ), plus San Diego has now gotten under the luxury tax threshold after surpa sing the tax line in each of the previous three years. Wade Miley Jersey