Padres’ playoff push brings Juan Soto trade tree full circle against Nationals

We're now four years removed from the original Juan Soto blockbuster, and it's safe to say that trade significantly altered the trajectory of both the San Diego Padres and Washington Nationals.

That original deal landed the star young outfielder and first baseman Josh Bell in San Diego, though it cost CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana, and Luke Voit to pull it off. Though some of those players didn't accomplish much in Washington D.C., Abrams and Wood have become two of the best hitters in the National League, while Susana is one of the best prospects in baseball.

With the Nationals coming to town this week for a key series as the Padres try to stay alive in the NL Wild Card race, the Friars will have to stop the very players they abandonned in pursuit of Soto.

Padres, Nationals still feeling the effects of trading Juan Soto years later

By fWAR, Wood (4.1) and Abrams (3.2) have been two of the 27 best players in the Senior Circuit this year. For reference, the Padres' two best position players, Fernando Tatis Jr. (4.1) and Ty France (3.3) have been basically equal in terms of value.

Shutting that duo down will prove difficult, though a few of the pitchers tasked with that objective are also branches of the Soto trade tree. Both Michael King and Randy Vasquez joined the Friars as part of the Soto-to-Yankees blockbuster, as did reliever Jhony Brito. King won't pitch after his facing his former team over the weekend, but both Vasquez and Brito should feature against the Nats.

And the madness doesn't end there. Abimelec Ortiz, who frequently bats in the top half of the Nats' order nowadays, was one of the key pieces acquired in the MacKenzie Gore trade that got executed this past offseason. Batting between Wood and Abrams in the lineup, he's yet another (extended) branch of the original Soto deal that will have an impact on this series.

In case it wasn't clear before, the ramifications of trading for and away Juan Soto are vast. You can't simply invite a generational talent into your home only to kick him out shortly after and expect not to feel the effects, after all.

But if the Padres' pitchers get the better of the Nationals' loaded lineup, we can say that their end of the deal holds up for one more week at least.

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