Washington Nationals

Juan Soto reportedly won't be the only member of his family in the Washington Nationals organization.

According to The Athletic, the Nationals will bring in Soto's younger brother, Elian, when he is eligible to sign with the team. While the timeline could change depending on the rules in a new collective bargaining agreement, currently, the 15-year-old Soto is not eligible to sign with the Nationals until January 2023.

This contradicts previous reports suggesting Soto would sign with the division rival New York Mets.

On Wednesday, Ken Davidoff of the New York Post noted Elian Soto posted a video on Instagram wearing Mets gear with a caption reading "Are you ready for what’s coming this year?"

Davidoff also cited another team official that said many around the league expected Soto, who, like his brother, is being advised by Scott Boras, to sign with the Mets for a bonus of approximately $50,000.

Alas, family ties may have won out here, although it remains to be seen whether the older Soto will even be on the Nationals when his younger brother is ready for the major leagues.

The 23-year-old outfielder is under contract through the 2024 campaign and would likely be a headliner in free agency if he were to hit the open market. After all, he is one of the league's best players with a resume that includes a World Series title, two Silver Sluggers, a batting title and an All-Star selection in just four seasons.

He slashed .313/.465/.534 with 29 home runs and 95 RBI in 151 games last season for the Nationals.

If the younger Soto ends up being anywhere close to the same type of player his brother is, Washington will have another star on its hands.           

Two former employees of the Washington Nationals are suing the team over its COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to TMZ Sports.

Lawrence Pardo and Brad Holman, who coached in Washington's minor league system, said they didn't want to take the vaccine on religious grounds, which were denied by the Nationals. As a result, they were no longer employed by the organization.

The Washington Post's Jesse Dougherty reported in September the two had filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission:

In a statement sent to the Washington Post this morning, Brad Holman and Larry Pardo said they refuse to take the vaccine because "they are developed from and/or tested with aborted fetal cells." They filed a religious exemption with the Nationals that was denied.

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) September 17, 2021

In August, the Nationals informed their staffers they'd be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Bob Boone, the team's vice president, resigned instead of following the organizational requirement.

Unlike Boone, Holman and Pardo didn't voluntarily resign.

They said in a statement to Dougherty that Washington "pretended to offer Larry and Brad a chance to lay out their religious beliefs and request to be exempted from the requirements, which they did." The exemption wasn't granted.

The team reportedly deemed their beliefs to be sincere but didn't feel comfortable granting the exemption because of how it could put other employees at risk.

Dougherty also explained how Holman and Pardo's concerns about the vaccines were misplaced. Pfizer and Moderna didn't use fetal cells to develop their vaccines, while Johnson & Johnson used lab-replicated fetal cells rather than aborted fetal DNA.

Juan Soto could be hesitant to sign an extension with the Washington Nationals if the team isn't a consistent contender.

Soto's agent Scott Boras discussed the player's future Wednesday:

Scott Boras on Juan Soto signing an extension with the Nationals:

"Juan has mentioned to me that he wants to make sure he's working for a club that's going to compete annually" pic.twitter.com/ABAWy9pkEt

— SNY (@SNYtv) November 10, 2021

"Juan Soto wants to win," Boras said. "So the first thing that’s gonna have to happen is that he knows that he's working with an ownership that’s gonna annually try to compete and win. And then I think once he knows that, then he'll be ready to sit down and talk whenever they choose to talk."

Soto was named one of three finalists for the National League MVP after hitting .313 with 29 home runs and a league-best .465 on-base percentage. The rest of the team didn't provide much help, struggling to a 65-97 record that was the fifth-worst in the majors.

Soto does still have three more years under team control before potentially hitting free agency after the 2024 season, which gives the Nationals time to turn things around.

The sentiment could still be disappointing after the Nationals have lost several notable players to free agency in recent years, including Boras clients Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon. The team also traded shortstop Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers this season despite having one more year before free agency.

Washington won't want to lose Soto considering what he has shown through four seasons.

The 23-year-old finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2018 before becoming a key part of the team's run to a World Series title in 2019. The outfielder hit .333 with three home runs and seven RBI in the seven-game series against the Houston Astros.

Soto followed it up with a batting title in 2020 after hitting .351 with 13 home runs in the shortened season.

There are still question marks about the rest of the Nationals after back-to-back losing seasons and moving forward without Turner or Max Scherzer. It's clear Soto wants to see some improvements before inking a long-term deal with the organization.    

New York Mets starting pitcher Marcus Stroman weighed in on the National League MVP race Saturday and had high praise for a division rival.

Stroman tweeted that Washington Nationals star Juan Soto is "the best hitter I've ever faced in my life for sure."

Soto. I believe he’s the best player in the league. He’s the best hitter I’ve ever faced in my life for sure. When it’s all said and done…he will go down as one of the best players ever in my eyes! https://t.co/eQfFqAiLKi

— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) September 25, 2021

I’m telling you. He’s the clear cut best hitter I’ve ever faced. You feel like he’s on everything while not even offering at your best pitch slightly out of the zone. He’s a robot that’s not allowed to swing at anything but a strike. Mentally drained after facing him! Lol 😂🤦🏾‍♂️ https://t.co/6Lk2Tu2JqD

— Marcus Stroman (@STR0) September 25, 2021

Soto boasts a .324/.472/.557 slash line with 29 home runs and 92 RBI through 143 games. The Nationals (64-90) have been eliminated from postseason contention, but it's impossible to ignore Soto's 6.5 WAR, which ranks second among position players on FanGraphs, behind only Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s 6.8.

Two other NL MVP contenders, the Philadelphia Phillies' Bryce Harper (6.5) and San Diego Padres' Fernando Tatis Jr. (6.2), are right there too.

The 22-year-old has been so good so early in his career that he has already drawn comparisons to Hall of Famer Ted Williams.

As Soto continues to hit like this, more pitchers may come around to Stroman's way of thinking.

If you haven't paid a single unit of attention to the Washington Nationals in the past several months, well, who could blame you? The 2019 World Series champions have the fifth-worst record in baseball, have already been eliminated from the postseason and traded away what felt like their entire active roster in late July.

They did hang on to one star player, though.

His name is Juan Soto.

He is 22 years old.

And he is already cementing his legacy as one of the most—we have to make up a word to adequately convey his greatness at the dish—"unretirable" hitters in baseball history.

In the modern era of the almighty strikeout, it is just about expected that every batter will whiff more often than he walks.

Per FanGraphs, we are nearing the end of a ninth consecutive season in which the league-wide K/BB ratio is north of 2.50. To put that number in historical perspective, the highest such ratio in the entire 20th century was 2.09 in 1968. It was dubbed "The Year of the Pitcher," and Major League Baseball was so appalled by the volume of strikeouts that it both shrank the strike zone and lowered the pitching mound the following year in an effort to restore competitive balance.

Nowadays, it seems like everyone can throw 100 miles per hour, and everyone can hit home runs, so it's go up there, take a few hacks for the fences and try again next time if and when you miss on each of those swings.

Not Soto, though, who has somehow managed to bring a Ted Williams-level of plate discipline into this K-heavy world.

Through the morning of Sept. 17, there were 395 players with at least 150 plate appearances (slightly more than one per team game). Of those 395 players, 394 had more strikeouts than walks.

Then there's Soto, who could just about strike out in every plate appearance for the rest of the season and still have the best BB/K ratio in the majors. Through Friday morning, Soto had 120 walks against just 83 strikeouts for a ratio of 1.446. And, to reiterate, no other player can even boast a 1.0 ratio.

On Friday night, he drew three more walks without a strikeout in yet another Nationals loss.

Business as usual.

Now, you might be thinking, "But of course he walks! There's no one left on this year's team for opposing pitchers to be afraid of!" And there is a decent amount of truth to that. Soto's pre-trade deadline BB/K ratio (1.203) pales in comparison to his post-trade deadline ratio (2.167) in large part because he has drawn more intentional walks (12) in the past 44 games than he did in his first 92 games (seven).

But even Soto's pre-deadline ratio was substantially better than anyone else can boast. Plus, he had a 1.464 BB/K ratio (while leading the majors in both on-base percentage and slugging percentage) during the truncated 2020 campaign, so this isn't exactly a new, roster-situation-based development.

The young man—"Childish Bambino," as he came to be known as a 19-year-old rookie—simply sees the strike zone better than anyone.

When he does take the bat off his shoulders, good things tend to happen, too.

Last year, a 21-year-old Soto became the youngest player ever to win the National League batting title with a mark of .351, slightly besting Pete Reiser's feat as a 22-year-old in 1941.

This year, he has a good chance at winning it again if he can just finish ahead of former teammates Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, sitting at .317 and .313, respectively, as of Saturday morning.

Through Saturday morning, Soto was batting .315 with 25 home runs and a .986 OPS.

According to the Washington Nationals Twitter account, Soto is just the second player under the age of 23 in MLB history with at least 25 home runs and 18 intentional walks in a single season.

The other player to do that?

Ted Williams in 1941.

(Yes, that means, in back-to-back seasons, Soto has either equaled or bettered a record that had stood since World War II.)

But will an MLB-best .460 on-base percentage (the next-closest player is Harper at .427) be enough for Soto to win the NL MVP?

Alex Rodriguez (in)famously won the AL MVP in 2003 while with a Texas Rangers team that went 71-91. Mike Trout won the AL MVP in 2016 and 2019 despite the Los Angeles Angels losing 88 and 90 games, respectively. And there have been more than a dozen Cy Young winners for losing teams, perhaps most notably Felix Hernandez in 2010, when the Seattle Mariners suffered 101 losses.

There has at least been a precedent set for players to win a major individual award despite playing for a team that hadn't had a playoff pulse in months.

In most of those cases, either the player led the league in wins above replacement by a laughable margin, or there wasn't a great candidate from a postseason-bound team.

That doesn't appear to be the case for Soto.

As of Saturday morning, his 5.4 WAR on FanGraphs was merely fourth-best among National League hitters, trailing Bryce Harper (6.2), Fernando Tatis Jr. (5.8) and Trea Turner (5.6), each of whom plays for a team with a winning record.

As things currently stand, though, neither the Phillies nor the Padres would make the playoffs. And as far as Turner is concerned, no player in MLB history has ever won the MVP for a season in which he was traded.

It also bears mentioning that—excluding Soto's .490 OBP last year—no qualified player has finished a season with an OBP north of .470 since Barry Bonds' preposterous .609 mark in 2004. If he finishes with a flourish and reaches that .470 threshold, voters will surely take notice.

Because people are clearly already taking notice.

Search for "Juan Soto" on Twitter. and the top results are a cornucopia of absurdity.

There's one note from "Cespedes Family BBQ" from a little over a week ago that only Ted Williams, Barry Bonds and Joey Votto have had a higher post-All Star Break on-base percentage than Soto's. (It was .521 at the time. It's currently .530.)

Nationals beat writer Mark Zuckerman noted on Friday night that Soto is the first player to reach base at least four times in 21 games in a single season since Bonds in 2004.

ESPN's Jeff Passan noted on Wednesday that Soto's recent 55-game stretch puts him in elite company in this century.

And the list goes on.

So don't rule out Soto just yet.

Even if he has to settle for a third consecutive top-10 finish in the NL MVP vote, though, perhaps this will finally be the star hitter the Nationals sign to a long-term deal.

They lost Harper to free agency during the 2018-19 offseason, suffered the same fate with Anthony Rendon the following year and dealt Turner (and Max Scherzer) for prospects two months ago. But after failing to lock up those fan favorites, general manager Mike Rizzo could win back over a frustrated fan base by making sure Soto doesn't leave the nation's capital for at least another decade.

Washington Nationals left-handed pitcher Sean Nolin has been suspended five games for beaning Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman.

Kevin McAlpin of Braves Radio Network and 680 The Fan relayed MLB's press release, which also noted that Nats manager Dave Martinez would be suspended for his team's Friday matchup at the Pittsburgh Pirates:

Nats pitcher Sean Nolin suspended five games for throwing behind and at Freddie Freeman earlier this week. #Braves @680TheFan pic.twitter.com/XMpWENMxts

— Kevin McAlpin (@KevinMcAlpin) September 10, 2021

Nolin unsuccessfully attempted to throw at Freeman in the first inning of Atlanta's 4-2 home loss to the Nationals on Wednesday. His second attempt hit Freeman, however, leading to an umpire conference and an eventual ejection.

Sean Nolin attempts to hit Freddie Freeman his first at bat and misses, hits him the arm on his second attempt and immediately gets thrown out of the game. pic.twitter.com/01ygAbkEGJ

— Braves On FanDuel Sports Network (@FanDuelSNBraves) September 8, 2021

As MLB noted, Nolin was slated to begin his suspension Friday, but that is on hold with the pitcher deciding to appeal the league's decision.

Sarah Valenzuela of the New York Daily News provided some context behind the plunking:

Nolin’s stunt seemed to stem from an incident that happened between the two teams the game before. Nationals young slugger Juan Soto was intentionally plunked on his side by Braves pitcher Will Smith in the ninth inning—Soto and Smith’s bad blood started last season after Soto popped a home run off the lefty.

Smith was not ejected on Tuesday as the umpires were not able to distinguish whether he intended to hit Soto.

Smith had some beef with Soto stemming from a home run the outfielder smashed in August 2020, leading to Tuesday's beaning.

This Soto smash went a LONG way. pic.twitter.com/5SQtl1fuUX

— MLB (@MLB) August 18, 2020

Freeman had nothing to do with that moment, so he was an innocent bystander in all this. Still, he took the high road, speaking with Soto soon afterward.

Juan Soto caught up to Freddie Freeman after that play and they put their arms around each other's backs. Chatted a bit.

— Jesse Dougherty (@dougherty_jesse) September 8, 2021

Freeman was also respectful in his postgame press conference while also noting that he was disappointed there were two beaning attempts:

"I completely understand. It's the game of baseball. I just didn't like the fact that it was two times. You can't do two."

- Freddie Freeman on the first-inning drama pic.twitter.com/ldmtY9ZTla

— FanDuel Sports Network South (@FanDuelSN_SO) September 9, 2021

At any rate, the Washington-Atlanta season series is now over, so any lingering bad blood will have to wait until 2022.

Washington is playing out the string of a 58-83 season. Atlanta sits first in the National League East as it looks for its fourth straight division title.

Bob Boone, the Washington Nationals' longtime vice president and senior adviser to general manager Mike Rizzo, will leave the organization following his refusal to get the COVID-19 vaccine.

The Nationals mandated vaccines for all non-playing employees Aug. 14 and gave them until Sept. 15 to comply. Boone, 73, is one of an undisclosed number of employees to part ways with the team as a result.

Bob Boone just confirmed he and the Nationals are “unfortunately” parting ways because he will not get the covid-19 vaccine. He has been with the Nats front office since 2005.

— Chelsea Janes (@chelsea_janes) September 1, 2021

Two scouts have also been told their contracts will not be renewed because of their vaccination status. More staff changes are expected, according to Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post.

A catcher with the Philadelphia Phillies, California Angels and Kansas City Royals from 1972 to 1990, Boone has remained in baseball since his playing days ended. He managed the Royals from 1995 to 1997 and did the same for the Cincinnati Reds from 2001 to 2003.

The four-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove Award winner joined the Nationals in 2005 when the team relocated to Washington, D.C., from Montreal. He's the father of New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone—who himself has taken the vaccine and encouraged his players to do the same—and former player Bret Boone.

Per Dougherty:

The vaccine mandate applies to salaried and hourly employees on the coaching staff, in the baseball operations department, or working in the stadium, ticketing, business or in-game entertainment, among others. 'As a company, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep one another safe and felt that mandating vaccines was the absolute right thing to do for our employees and our community,' the Nationals said a statement in August.

The Houston Astros have also mandated vaccines for all non-playing employees.

Players will not be subjected to the directive unless it is agreed upon by Major League Baseball and the Players Association.

The Houston Astros and Washington Nationals became the first two MLB teams to mandate that all non-playing full-time employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine, per ESPN's Kiley McDaniel and Jeff Passan.

Houston was the first team to do so, and its policy applies to its three minor league teams.

The Nationals told employees earlier this month that they needed to prove they were vaccinated or provide a medical or religious reason for opting out. Employees who did not show proof of vaccination or provide a valid exemption by Thursday will be terminated.

The Astros reportedly told employees in a July 29 email that they would be terminated if they did not comply with the policy, per Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle.

Jesse Dougherty of the Washington Post confirmed the ESPN report. The Nats also provided a statement on the matter via Maria Torres of The Athletic: "As a company, we have a responsibility to do everything we can to keep one another safe and felt that mandating vaccines was the absolute right thing to do for our employees and our community."

The Astros and Nats both had COVID-19 outbreaks this year.

Five Houston players landed on the COVID-19 injured list in mid-April: Jose Altuve, Yordan Alvarez, Alex Bregman, Robel Garcia and Martin Maldonado.

Washington had four players and eight staff members test positive for COVID-19 in late July, per ESPN.

Major League Baseball stated in June that 23 teams (players and on-field personnel) had reached the 85 percent vaccination threshold, per the Associated Press.

The Washington Nationals announced Friday that they will release veteran infielder Starlin Castro following his 30-game suspension for violating MLB's Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse Policy.

According to Maria Torres of The Athletic, the Nationals released the following statement regarding the decision: "We take all allegations of abuse and harassment very seriously. We fully support the Commissioner's decision and will be releasing Starlin Castro upon the completion of his suspension."

MLB announced Castro's suspension Friday after he was placed on leave earlier this month amid allegations of domestic violence.

The 31-year-old Castro has spent the past two seasons with the Nats after previous stints as a member of the Chicago Cubs, New York Yankees and Miami Marlins.

In 87 games this season, Castro is slashing .283/.333/.375 with three home runs, 38 RBI and 25 runs scored.

Castro is a four-time All-Star, having earned the honors three times with the Cubs and once as a member of the Yankees.

The Dominican Republic native has reached the 20-homer plateau twice in his career and hit .300 or better in a season three times. His career batting average sits at .280 with 138 home runs and 678 RBI.

In addition to hitting for a high average, Castro is known for his defensive versatility, playing second, shortstop and third base extensively during his career.

The announcement of Castro's impending release is the latest in a wave of major roster moves the Nats have made in recent days.

Prior to Friday's trade deadline, the Nationals finalized three trades on Thursday, sending outfielder Kyle Schwarber to the Boston Red Sox, closer Brad Hand to the Toronto Blue Jays and reliever Daniel Hudson to the San Diego Padres.

Washington is also attempting to finalize a deal that would send ace starter Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers, per MLB Network's Jon Heyman.

After winning the World Series in 2019, the Nationals missed the playoffs last season and are poised to do so again this season with a 47-55 record.

The departure of Castro and potentially Turner as well could open up more playing time for 23-year-old Carter Kieboom for the remainder of the season.

Amid their ongoing struggles, the Washington Nationals are looking toward their future after reportedly trading shortstop Trea Turner and ace Max Scherzer to the Los Angeles Dodgers in a blockbuster move. 

Per ESPN's Jeff Passan, the Nationals will receive a package of four prospects that include right-handed pitcher Josiah Gray, catcher Keibert Ruiz, right-handed pitcher Gerardo Carrillo and outfielder Donovan Casey in exchange for sending Scherzer and Turner to Los Angeles. 

The #Dodgers payroll now is roughly a cool $275 million with Scherzer and Turner coming aboard.

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) July 30, 2021

Moving Turner and Scherzer saves the Nationals around $16.5 million for the rest of this season. Their payroll currently stands at $128.16 million, per Spotrac. 

Dodgers Starting Lineup, Pitching Rotation

C: Austin Barnes

1B: Albert Pujols

2B: Max Muncy

3B: Justin Turner

SS: Chris Taylor

RF: Billy McKinney

CF: Cody Bellinger

LF: A.J. Pollock

No. 1 Starter: Max Scherzer

No. 2 Starter: Walker Buehler

No. 3 Starter: Julio Urias

No. 4 Starter: Tony Gonsolin 

No. 5 Starter: David Price

Nationals Lineup, Starting Rotation

C: Keibert Ruiz

1B: Josh Bell

2B: Josh Harrison

3B: Carter Kieboom

SS: Alcides Escobar

LF: Yadiel Hernandez

CF: Andrew Stevenson

RF: Juan Soto

No. 1 Starter: Joe Ross

No. 2 Starter: Jon Lester

No. 3 Starter: Patrick Corbin

No. 4 Starter: Erick Fedde

No. 5 Starter: Josiah Gray

In addition to the potential deal with the Dodgers, Robert Murray of FanSided reported that Washington will send Kyle Schwarber to the Boston Red Sox. 

Selling was absolutely the right move for the Nationals at this point, especially given the return for Scherzer and Turner. Ruiz and Gray are the top two prospects in Los Angeles' system, per MLB.com. 

Gray recently made his MLB debut with the Dodgers on July 20. The 23-year-old has a 6.75 ERA, but that's only in two appearances covering eight innings. 

Ruiz has appeared in eight games dating back to last season. He's 3-for-15 with two homers and two RBI in his brief MLB tenure. 

In addition to Scherzer and Turner, the Dodgers roster could look very different in the next week or two with injured players on the verge of returning. 

So there’s a chance the Dodgers add the following players over the next week or so:

Max Scherzer
Trea Turner
Corey Seager (back tomorrow)
Mookie Betts (eligible on Sunday)
Clayton Kershaw (could be back 8/7 vs. LAA)

— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) July 30, 2021

The Nationals did have Turner under control through next season before he could become a free agent, but their roster is in a precarious state now. He established himself as a key piece of Washington's recent run of success, including a victory in the 2019 World Series. 

Washington was able to work out a one-year deal worth $7.45 million with Turner in 2020 to avoid arbitration. The 28-year-old said he was open to working out a long-term extension with the organization. 

"If the deal's right, if I like it, I'm not scared to take it," he told NBC Sports Washington's Todd Dybas in January 2020. "Same thing, if it's not right, I'm not going to settle. Everyone I think knows their worth, [they] at least think they're worth something—whatever that is, high, low, willing to take less or try to get more."

The Nationals dealt with a series of injuries this season, including Stephen Strasburg undergoing another season-ending surgery in July to repair a neck issue. 

Things haven't gone as planned for Washington so far in 2021 with a 47-55 record, though Turner hasn't been a problem. He is hitting .322/.369/.521 with 18 homers and 21 stolen bases. 

The Nationals haven't been afraid to spend money, though most of their resources are invested in pitching. General manager Mike Rizzo was able to re-sign Strasburg (seven years, $245 million) in December 2019 and sign free agents like Scherzer (seven years, $210 million) and Patrick Corbin (six years, $140 million). 

Rizzo has often allowed Washington's marquee position players to leave, with Bryce Harper and Anthony Rendon being the two most notable recent examples.

Rather than wait for Turner to hit the free-agent market, though, Rizzo decided to make a move in order to acquire long-term assets for the future. 

The Dodgers have acquired one of the most dynamic offensive players in Major League Baseball and an ace who can anchor any starting rotation in a playoff series.