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Exploring trades for Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto — no matter how far fetched

The trade deadline became a bit more suspenseful this past weekend when the Athletic reported that Washington outfielder Juan Soto turned down a $440 million, 15-year contract offer to stay with the Nationals.Suddenly, social media was ablaze with talk of Soto possibly being traded, and what kind of incredible offer it might take to acquire him.AdvertisementA deal involving the 23-year-old superstar would be seismic because of his talent, his youth and the fact that he’s not due to be a free agent until after the 2024 season. Any team considering acquiring Soto would have to weigh how likely he’d be to stay there, but even 2 1/2 years of him could be worth quite a bit.It’s moments like these that online trade simulators were meant for, and baseballtradevalues.com was probably getting a lot of hits Saturday. That site tries to put a figure on a player’s value, while accounting for his contract status. For example, Soto’s trade value (his projected on-field worth minus his salary) is listed on the site as $193.7 million, trailing only Wander Franco ($286 million), Ronald Acuña Jr. ($221.2 million) and José Ramírez ($209 million) in all of baseball.AdvertisementSo when using the site’s trade simulator, the goal is to line up a deal in which the Nationals get around $193.7 million in value in exchange for Soto. Let’s have some fun with this.For the purposes of this exercise, we’ll assume all no-trade clauses will be waived as needed. All prospect rankings are from MLB Pipeline, and trade value figures in parentheses are in millions:Deal No. 1: Soto ($193.7) to the Red Sox for SS Marcelo Mayer ($55.4), 1B Trison Casas ($39.7), RHP Brayan Bello ($28.8), RHP Tanner Houck ($27.1), 2B Nick Yorke ($25.2) and SS Xander Bogaerts ($22)If a player like Soto comes available, you immediately start thinking about wealthy teams already in contention – the franchises that can benefit right away from adding him and have the wherewithal to keep him long term. The Dodgers and Yankees fit that description, but they only have one top-25 prospect each.In this deal, Boston would be giving up the No. 10, 14, 44 and 64 prospects — and Bogaerts, a four-time All-Star who can become a free agent after this season. If Washington feels it can extend him, would a trade like this make sense?Deal No. 2: Soto ($193.7) to the Cardinals for OF Dylan Carlson ($72.8), 3B Jordan Walker ($61.6), 2B Nolan Gorman ($32.4) and OF Tyler O’Neill ($28.3)Walker is the game’s ninth-ranked prospect, and Carlson and Gorman are high draft picks who have reached the big leagues but haven’t turned 24 yet. O’Neill hit 34 homers last year.Deal No. 3: Soto ($193.7) to the Tigers for OF Riley Greene ($72), 1B Spencer Torkelson ($64.1) and LHP Tarik Skubal ($55)AdvertisementWashington would receive baseball’s No. 1 prospect (Greene), the top pick in the 2020 draft (Torkelson) and a 25-year-old (Skubal) who has shown promise in the majors. Detroit made a deal like this when it acquired Miguel Cabrera, but that only worked out because the Tigers were able to keep him long term. It makes little sense for them to bring in Soto unless they’re prepared to spend what it takes to hold on to him.Deal No. 4: Soto ($193.7) to the Giants for RHP Logan Webb ($79), SS Marco Luciano ($54.3), LHP Kyle Harrison ($39.2) and OF Luis Matos ($19.3)San Francisco has come back to earth after its 107-win campaign a year ago, so perhaps the Giants would want to pursue a reboot with Soto. In this deal, they’d have to trade two top-25 prospects and an impressive young pitcher in Webb, but if they could keep Soto they’d have a lengthy window to build a good roster around him.Deal No. 5: Soto ($193.7) to the Padres for 2B Jake Cronenworth ($54.5), SS C.J. Abrams ($52.1), LHP MacKenzie Gore ($42.4) and OF Robert Hassell III ($38.7)Even if San Diego only had Soto for a couple years, teaming him up with Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado is an enticing idea. And the Padres can afford to move Abrams because of Tatis’ presence. Whether this package is enough to move the needle for Washington is another matter.Deal No. 6: Soto ($193.7) to the Marlins for RHP Eury Pérez ($68.8), LHP Trevor Rogers ($61.6), OF Jesús Sánchez ($31.5) and RHP Max Meyer ($29)AdvertisementThis seems far fetched, in part because Miami is in Washington’s division, but if the Marlins want to shed their reputation as a franchise that lets superstars go, there’s no time like the present. The value numbers line up for this trade, and Miami could pull it off while still having a nucleus of Sandy Alcantara, Jazz Chisholm and Pablo López waiting to play with Soto. The Nationals get two top-25 prospects in Pérez and Meyer, plus two 24-year-old big leaguers in Rogers and Sánchez.Deal No. 7: Soto ($193.7) to the Angels for OF Mike Trout ($115.7), OF Taylor Ward ($59.3) and LHP Reid Detmers ($21)Now we’re into fantasyland — or are we? Having largely wasted a decade of Trout’s greatness, would the the Angels hit the reset button by dealing him for another star outfielder seven years younger? Trout has a huge contract of his own, but if the Nationals were prepared to give one to Soto, perhaps they’d be willing to pay Trout and hope he can keep playing at an MVP level well into his 30s.And last but not least, a bonus deal for those of you who just like to watch the world burn:Soto ($193.7) to the Phillies for OF Bryce Harper ($70), RHP Mick Abel ($28.2), SS Bryson Stott ($26.7), RHP Andrew Painter ($25.8), 3B Alec Bohm ($23.1) and LHP Ranger Suárez ($20.4).

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What is the WNBA Commissioner’s Cup? Here’s what to know about the game — with a $500K prize pool — the Chicago Sky are hosting.

After holding this year’s WNBA All-Star Game at Wintrust Arena, the Chicago Sky are playing host once again for the second Commissioner’s Cup championship. Here’s what you need to know about it.The Commissioner’s Cup was added to the WNBA schedule last year as a way for players to make additional money during the season. The winning team splits $500,000 among the players.AdvertisementThe matchup is determined by which two teams have the most wins in Commissioner’s Cup play in each conference. This year, the Sky and Las Vegas Aces each went 9-1 in CC play.Seattle Storm guard Sue Bird holds the trophy after the Commissioner’s Cup game against the Connecticut Sun on Aug. 12, 2021, in Phoenix. (Matt York/AP)The Comissioner’s Cup championship will be played July 26 at 7:30 p.m. at Wintrust Arena.AdvertisementBecause the Aces and Sky have the same Commissioner’s Cup record, home-court advantage was determined by the head-to-head regular-season record, then overall regular-season play. The Sky were a half-game ahead of the Aces heading into the All-Star break.Amazon Prime will air the event.When these two teams tip off, it could very well be a preview of this season’s WNBA Finals.The Sky have won 12 of their last 14 games and have the best net rating in the league. Opponents haven’t been able to stop their motion offense that is third in points per game since June 10. Candace Parker has been playing like an MVP candidate, averaging 19 points, 9.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists over a five-game stretch before going scoreless in the Sky’s 80-68 win Thursday over the Los Angeles Sparks.Las Vegas has looked vulnerable on defense at times this season but still has one of the best starting units in the league. A’ja Wilson is the early favorite to win her second MVP award, while Kelsey Plum and Jackie Young are playing at an All-WNBA level.The biggest hole the Aces needed to fill was their lack of depth. Through June 11, Las Vegas was the only team to average single-digit bench points per game. After adding Iliana Rupert, getting Riquna Williams back in the rotation and having Theresa Plaisance emerge, the Aces are in better shape as the postseason nears.Chicago Sky guard Courtney Vandersloot, right, fouls Las Vegas Aces guard Kelsey Plum (10) during the second half, June 21, 2022, in Las Vegas. (John Locher/AP)The rise of these two franchises came at about the same time. The San Antonio Stars moved to Las Vegas in 2018 to become the Aces, who drafted Wilson as the face of the franchise. The same year, the Sky drafted 2019 All-Star Diamond DeShields. The teams played each other in the second round of the 2019 playoffs and the Aces won on Dearica Hamby’s half-court shot with 4.8 seconds remaining.[embedded content]The Aces also had the advantage in 2020, but the Sky now have bragging rights as the reigning champions. However, Las Vegas received a lot of attention early in the 2022 season after starting 9-2. The teams played earlier in the year when Sky coach and general manager James Wade went off in his postgame news conference after the Sky lost 83-76.Advertisement“The best team,” Wade said May 28. “The best team in the league. Keep that narrative all year. I hear y’all. They are the best team in the league. Keep that (expletive). I ain’t going to forget it.”The Sky evened the season series June 21 by completing the largest comeback in WNBA history, storming back from 28 points down in the second quarter.There is one tier at the top of the WNBA right now, and it boasts only these two teams. It should be a playoff atmosphere at Wintrust Arena come the Commissioner’s Cup championship.The Sky have been heralded for having an “everybody eats” offense, but they’ve won games by containing their opponents. That’s where Rebekah Gardner comes in. She very well could end up on a WNBA all-defensive team despite coming off the bench.According to the league’s on/off data, the Sky have an 85.2 defensive rating in the fourth quarter when Gardner is on the floor. She has been tasked with defending some of the best guards in the league, including Plum. If Gardner can contain the Aces guard, an All-Star starter this year, the Sky frontcourt has the size and versatility to match up with Wilson and Hamby.If the Aces are going to win the Commissioner’s Cup, they can’t rely on only their starters. Their starting five had played a league-high 419 minutes together entering Friday (for context: the second-most was the Seattle Storm with 277 minutes). That’s where Williams comes in.AdvertisementAfter missing most of June with a foot injury, Williams has slowly started to look like her 2021 self. If she can provide some fire off the bench, Plum and Chelsea Gray won’t have to play deep into this game. Against the Sky on June 21, the starting backcourt duo looked exhausted trying to stave off the Sky’s comeback efforts. The Aces need only 20 minutes from Williams to avoid the same problem they dealt with less than a month ago in Las Vegas.ExpandAutoplayImage 1 of 18Chicago Sky’s Candace Parker celebrates a layup after missing a couple shots during the first half of the WNBA All-Star Game at Wintrust Arena on July 10, 2022. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)