It was about this time last year that a survey of club executives around the league first forecast that the Nationals might choose to deal Juan Soto, and Washington general manager Mike Rizzo responded with ardent denials. "We are not trading Juan Soto," Rizzo said in a radio interview. "We made it clear to his agent and to the player. ... We have every intention of building this team around Juan Soto, and we've spoken to his agent many, many times.
"I guess the rest of the world doesn't believe it, but that's our position."
Two months later, Soto was wearing a Padres uniform.
So what are some of those same execs seeing in this year's early trade market conditions? We asked and they answered, offering some hard opinions on the X factors that loom.
1. Where will the biggest chips emerge?
