As the San Diego Padres fight for a playoff spot, the trade rumors for left fielder Juan Soto are again heating up. The Padres currently have the 3rd highest payroll in Major League Baseball this season, behind both the New York Mets and New York Yankees.

They already have Manny Machado signed for $350 million guaranteed, as well as Fernando Tatis Jr signed for $340 million. Can they really afford Soto’s contract for next season?

His production this season (as of Wednesday) has him batting .276 with 35 HRs and 108 RBI’s. Those are good numbers. He’s making $23 million this season through arbitration and has another round of arbitration coming up where the salary numbers could increase. That being said, could they afford to lose his offensive production?

Is there a team willing to give him not just a new contract, but also give up prospects to land him? There are rumors that he wants to come back to the East Coast. OK, we know that the Yankees and Mets are not afraid to spend money. Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention this season and could use his offensive numbers, but need pitching as well. It could come down to which of those teams would prefer to spend any available monies on.

Time will tell, but baseball fans will have to hear all of this rehashed, once again this offseason.

-Sean McKenzie

Photo courtesy of MSN.

Contract numbers courtesy of Spotrac