Oct 29, 2024; New York, New York, USA; New York Yankees outfielder Juan Soto (22) on third base during the first inning in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Brad Penner-Imagn Images

Washington Nationals Lose Another Homegrown Star To Division Rivals

Originally posted on Washington Nationals on SI
By Tyler Maher | Last updated Dec 9, 2024 4:00 PM ET

When the Washington Nationals won their first World Series title in 2019, they did it with a largely homegrown core. Young stars like Juan Soto, Trea Turner, Anthony Rendon, Stephen Strasburg and others were all key cogs in the Nationals' championship season.

With so much talent, Washington should have had a dynasty. Instead, the Nationals immediately collapsed and haven't had a winning season since.

That's because they did a terrible job keeping their title-winning nucleus together. Not only did Washington lose most of its stars via trades and free agency, but many of them returned to the NL East and now play for division rivals.

Soto became the latest example of this trend on Sunday, agreeing to a 15-year, $765 million contract with the New York Mets -- the largest contract in professional sports history. He should have been a National for life, but they foolishly traded him to the San Diego Padres in 2022 when he was still just 23 years old.

The worst part about the Nationals’ inability to keep their own home grown superstars has been that they’ve mostly all ended up with division rivals.

When the dust settles- Bryce Harper will mostly remembered as a Philly and Juan Soto as a Met. Trea Turner as a Phillie. Etc etc.
— Grant Paulsen (@granthpaulsen) December 9, 2024

The trend started in 2019, when Bryce Harper signed a 13-year, $330 million deal with the Philadelphia Phillies before the season.

Harper has since transformed the Phillies into perennial contenders, winning a second NL MVP award in 2021 and leading them to three straight postseason appearances from 2022 to 2024, including a pennant in 2022 and a division title in 2024.

He's had help from two former Washington stars in Turner and Kyle Schwarber. The Nationals traded both in 2021, sending Turner to the Los Angeles Dodgers and Schwarber to the Boston Red Sox.

Philadelphia has since acquired both, inking Schwarber to a four-year, $79 million deal after the 2021 season and Turner to a 10-year, $300 million pact after 2022.

The Phillies have essentially re-assembled Washington's old core, giving Nationals fans a glimpse of what could have been.

After rarely seeing Soto play the last few years, Washington fans will get to see a lot more of him going forward. Unfortunately, it will be at their team's expense.

This article first appeared on Washington Nationals on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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