The San Diego Padres have acquired outfielder Juan Soto and first baseman Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals in exchange for 1B/DH Luke Voit, shortstop C.J. Abrams, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood, left-handed pitcher MacKenzie Gore, and right-handed pitcher Jarlin Susana, president of baseball operations and general manager A.J. Preller announced on Aug. 2.
Soto, 23, is batting .246 (84-for-342) with a .408 OBP, 17 doubles, one triple, 21 home runs, 46 RBI and 62 runs scored in 101 games this season, including a .495 OBP and 1.111 OPS in July. The 6-foot-2, 225-pound left-handed hitter currently leads the majors with 91 walks, 31 more than the next closest player on the list (Max Muncy, 57), and ranks second in the National League in OBP and T-8th in home runs. He posted a career-best 16-game hitting streak earlier this season (June 24-July 14), tied for the 6th-longest in the majors in 2022, and reached base in a career-high 27 consecutive games (June 17-July 22).
In July, Soto was crowned the 2022 MLB Home Run Derby champion at Dodger Stadium, becoming the second-youngest player ever to win the competition after defeating Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodríguez in the final round.
Originally signed as an international free agent by the Nationals in 2015 out of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, Soto is batting .291 (569-for-1954) with a .427 OBP, .966 OPS, 108 doubles, nine triples, 119 home runs, 358 RBI, 464 walks, 38 stolen bases and 399 runs in 565 career games. Since making his MLB debut in 2018, Soto leads the majors in walks and ranks second in both OBP and OPS, trailing only LAA’s Mike Trout (.429/1.054).
In 2021, Soto finished as the runner up for the NL Most Valuable Player Award and ranked second among all MLB position players in fWAR (7.0), trailing only Fernando Tatis Jr. (7.3). His 145 walks that season were the most in a full season since Barry Bonds set the Major League record in 2004 (232) and were the second-most by any player prior to his 23rd birthday behind Hall of Famer Ted Williams (147 in 1941).
In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Soto won the NL Batting Title with a .351 average, becoming the youngest player in MLB history to do so (21 years old). During the 2019 postseason, he hit .277 (18-for-65) with a .373 OBP, .927 OPS, three doubles, five home runs, 14 RBI and 12 runs scored in 17 games to lead the Nationals to their first World Series Championship. He is a two-time NL All-Star (2021-22) and has earned two Silver Slugger Awards (2020-21).
The 29-year-old switch-hitting Bell is batting .301 (113-375) with a .384 OBP, .877 OPS, 24 doubles, three triples, 14 home runs, 57 RBI, 49 walks and 52 runs scored in 103 games this season. Bell currently ranks T-3rd in the NL in multi-hit games (34), 4th in OBP, 5th in AVG, 6th in hits, and 7th in OPS.
A 2019 NL All-Star (DH), he has a .266 average (739-for-2772) with a .353 OBP, .824 OPS, 153 doubles, 17 triples, 127 home runs, 454 RBI and 410 runs scored in 799 career games between the Pittsburgh Pirates (2016-20) and Nationals (2020-22). He was originally selected by the Pirates in the 2nd round of the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft from Jesuit College Preparatory School of Dallas (Texas).
