The Washington Nationals got what every team trading a superstar wants, acquiring three All-Stars for Juan Soto, setting up a bright future.
Across North American professional sports, the return a team receives when trading a superstar player can go a long way toward defining and determining that franchise’s future. When the Oklahoma City Thunder got Shai Gilgeous-Alexander back as part of a package from the Los Angeles Clippers in 2019, it helped build the OKC team that just won the NBA title as one of the great all-time teams that’s built to last.
Could a superstar trade in a different sport ultimately yield similar results for one up-and-coming team?
In 2022, baseball megastar Juan Soto reportedly rejected a 15-year, $440 million contract extension from the Washington Nationals that would’ve broken MLB’s all-time record at the time. Instead of trying to negotiate with the All-Star outfielder who helped the team win the 2019 World Series over the course of the two-plus years that remained on his contract, the Nats explored trading their generational talent. On Aug. 2, Soto was dealt to the San Diego Padres in an eight-player trade that included a boatload of top prospects heading to DC, including outfielder James Wood, lefty starter MacKenzie Gore, and shortstop CJ Abrams.
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Fast-forward three years, and all of those players have a strong chance of making the All-Star Game this year while combining to earn just under $4.5 million this year.
Wood is a mammoth 6-foot-7, 22-year-old native of Rockville, Md., a DC suburb. A little less than a year ago, before he debuted for the Nationals last July 1, he was ranked as the sport’s top prospect by Baseball America. After hitting nine home runs with an above-average .781 OPS in 79 games last year, Wood, through 84 games in 2025, has smacked 22 home runs with 11 steals, a .938 OPS that’s ranked fifth among all MLB players, and a 3.9 WAR that’s tied for sixth among all National League players and ahead of Soto’s 3.4. Already one of the sport’s premier power hitters and biggest bargains, Wood will still only make six figures through 2027.
The third overall pick in the 2017 draft, the 26-year-old Gore has emerged over the last season-plus as Washington’s ace, ranked second in the NL in strikeouts. Though he only has three wins to his name because of poor run support, Gore is only making $2.89 million this season in the first of his three arbitration years. He should double his salary next year as he continues to emerge as one of the game’s most underrated young pitchers, with a 3.0 WAR just outside MLB’s top 10. And he doesn’t hit free agency until after the 2027 season.
The sixth overall pick of the 2019 draft, the 24-year-old Abrams earned his first All-Star nod last season after he was one of just 10 MLB players to hit at least 20 homers and steal at least 30 bases. He’s been even better this year, with 12 homers, 17 steals, and an .852 OPS that ranks fourth among all MLB shortstops. And Abrams won’t be a free agent until after the 2028 season, giving Washington multiple years of team control for their trio of franchise cornerstones.
As Wood, Gore, and Abrams develop into the foundational building blocks that can lead a championship-winning roster, the time will come for the Nationals to start spending some more serious money on veterans who can help the team make the postseason. Currently, just one player on the 35-49 Nats earns more than $10 million this season, with a total payroll of just over $115.1 million that ranks 23rd in MLB. After management hit a home run in its rebuild by trading Soto for a trio of All-Star caliber building blocks, the Nats are ready to make the next step toward playoff and championship contention this offseason by signing and trading for more established stars.
In the end, things worked out pretty well for both Soto and the Nationals. Instead of taking that $440 million extension, Soto, of course, signed a record-breaking 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets, betting on himself and earning over $300 million than the previously unheard of Washington offer. And the Nats successfully pivoted and built a core that, with the right talent around them, could compete for a championship in the not-too-distant future.
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