Phillies Winter Meetings Notes: Phillies Interested in Juan Soto?

Sunday could be the day that the Major League Baseball offseason wakes up from its slumber.

A relatively quiet offseason could be energized with big names like Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Jordan Montgomery, Blake Snell and Juan Soto the top names looking for new addresses.

So could one or more of those names find themselves calling Philadelphia (or South Jersey) home?

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How about Juan Soto.

According to ESPN MLB insider Jeff Passan, he is a possibility for the Phillies, and could be had in a trade with the San Diego Padres.

Other possibilities include the Philadelphia Phillies, who don't necessarily have the need but certainly the talent and money.

Philadelphia doesn't really have a need for Soto, but could find a way to fit him into their lineup. Soto would bring his .275 average, a career-high 35 home runs, 109 RBI and 12 stolen bases to the Phillies lineup.

Soto has played both left and right field during his six major league seasons, but does bat left-handed, something the Phillies have a plethora of already.

But the Phillies need to find an outside of the box way to improve after being bounced in the World Series in 2022 and being upset in the NLCS in 2023, at just 25-years-old Soto would be another bat to the middle of the lineup that could help get them over the top in 2024 and maybe beyond.

The Phillies have some intriguing prospects they could trade. Pitcher Mick Abel could be a part of any deal, along with outfielder Justin Crawford.

One other name to keep an eye on is Yamamoto. The 25-year old pitcher would give the Phillies another top of the rotation arm behind Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola and the Phillies are reported to have interest.

The Yankees, Mets, Dodgers, Red Sox and Cubs are among the favorites, with the Giants, Blue Jays and Phillies also expected to be in the mix.

Ending up with Soto and Yamamoto would be a pretty nice offseason for the Phillies, but probably unlikely.