Hypothetical mega Soto trade would cost Giants ace Webb originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington

With Juan Soto’s trade speculation spreading across the league, the San Francisco Giants are one of many teams who might look to do a deal with the Washington Nationals. But do the Giants have the top prospects required to swing a blockbuster trade ahead of the Aug. 2 MLB trade deadline? Unlikely.

While Luciano, Harrison, and outfielder Luis Matos are top 100 prospects, per MLB Pipeline, other teams pursuing the 23-year-old Soto have much more to offer the Nationals.

Even if the Giants were to take back a bad contract attached to starting pitchers Stephen Strasburg or Patrick Corbin, their cache of prospects still might not sway Washington to do a deal.

So what could the Giants potentially include from the MLB roster to satisfy the Nationals’ front office?

MLB.com proposed seven hypothetical trades for teams, which would be very costly when it comes to the Giants.

Writer Sarah Langs drew up a trade scenario where the Giants’ package is headlined by 25-year-old ace Logan Webb. San Francisco also would include Luciano, Harrison, Matos, and former first-round draft pick Heliot Ramos for Soto alone.

“The Giants likely don’t have the right Major League talent to make a deal, but their most logical big leaguer to include would have to be Webb, who is 20-6 with a 2.94 ERA in 266 innings since the start of 2021,” Langs wrote. “As much as that would set back the pitching staff, the idea of having Soto in the lineup is pretty tantalizing. He played like Barry Bonds in the second half last year, so imagine seeing Bonds in a Giants uniform again, in a way.”

Would the president of baseball operations Farhan Zaidi be willing to part with Webb, a Northern California native who has developed into the Giants’ No. 1 starter? That’s a tough pill to swallow.

But a player of Soto’s age and talent is hard to come by, and someone of his caliber rarely — if ever — hits the trade market, so every option should be on the table.

It’s hard to see Zaidi and the Giants’ front office trading Webb, but for a player like Soto, anything is possible. And with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres also in pursuit of Soto, the Giants have to consider anything if they want to keep him away from their rivals. Otherwise, they might end up having to face him for the next 15 years.