No surprise here: Juan Soto is a Silver Slugger.
The Padres’ left fielder on Thursday was awarded his fourth straight NL Silver Slugger Award, something of a foregone conclusion the way he finished his first full season in San Diego.
Soto, 25, led the majors with 132 walks, hit a career-high 35 homers and paired a .930 OPS with 109 RBIs, one shy of his career high. He got to those numbers by hitting .340/.444/.711 with 10 homers in September after a miserable August (.713 OPS) in which the Padres fell out of contention.
Soto won his first two Silver Slugger awards with the Nationals and his third last year, when he was traded from Washington to San Diego for a bevy of Padres prospects.
Soto is entering his walk year as the Padres look to cut $50-60 million from their payroll. Because of the number of holes in the rotation and the $30-plus million he’s expected to earn in his final year of arbitration, it’s an open question as to whether Soto has played his last inning for the Padres. A trade could potentially bring both payroll relief and players to address other holes in the roster.
An extension is also a possibility, albeit a remote one. Soto’s agent, Scott Boras, has a knack for getting his clients on the open market.
