Let major league general managers take it for granted, the Washington Nationals will not be trading star player Juan Soto.

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Despite a rocky start to the season, where they only maintained a mediocre 18-34 record, earning them last place in the National League East and the second-worst record in all of baseball major, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo was adamant on the matter.

“We will not trade Juan Soto, repeated Rizzo, on the radio show “Sports Junkies”, on the airwaves of 106.7 The Fan, Wednesday. We have clearly stated this to the player and his agent. These journalists must fill in a blank sheet every day. It's nice to have a little attention with a story. We have every intention of building this team around Juan Soto.

“We spoke with his agent many times and even sat down with him when he moved to Washington. We made it clear with him, we don't want to trade him and I guess the rest of the world just doesn't want to believe us."

The 23-year-old star isn't having the expected start to the season, posting a .232 batting average, in addition to hitting nine home runs and driving in 16 runs. However, he leads major league baseball in bases on walks (42).

Since joining the Manfred circuit, Soto has made a habit of only signing one-season contracts. He will thus be without a contract at the end of the season, but his rights will still belong to the Nationals. Following this trend, Soto could only enjoy his full autonomy at the end of the 2024 campaign.