We never expect change. We never see it coming until we are face-to-face with it and by then, it’s too late to have any say in the matter. We are never ready for the way it will impact us, uproot us from our lives and plant us somewhere else. We hope the change will water us, nurture us and give us the life necessities to thrive.
Rarely it does.
I am a homebody. It’s taken me a long time to come to terms with that - wanting to be an adventurous world explorer like Paul Theroux or Anthony Bourdain - but I am certainly a homebody. I used to think of this as a great flaw, the person who would rather stay in and watch a movie or meet friends at a pub as opposed to going to the club or going on an adventure, but I have learned to like this about myself. I will live vicariously through others and grab an adventure or two along the way, but for the most part I’m happy with the constant simplicity I carve out in the world.
I drink coffee on my patio. I garden. I read novels. I watch baseball. I, in a very general sense, don’t care for change.
Juan Soto didn’t expect to be traded. By all accounts, he was content with his role as the face of the Washington Nationals. With a proper deal in place, it seems he may have been content to play his entire career there. Reports have surfaced that until he was told that he had been traded, he didn’t actually expect the team to move him.
Alas, change.
It was three short years ago that the Washington Nationals were the best team in baseball. They captured the hearts of baseball fans everywhere as the plucky underdogs against the Houston Astros in the 2019 World Series.
The 93-win Nationals should have been overwhelmed and outgunned against the 107-win Astros, but baseball has a funny way of keeping us on our toes. In seven games, the Nationals upset the Astros to capture the 115th World Series.
And then, change.
In the offseason, the previously excellent Anthony Rendon moved to the Los Angeles Angels. The Nationals went 26-34 in the shortened 2020 season, nine games behind Atlanta for the division lead. More change. In 2021, ace Max Scherzer and perennial all-star Trea Turner were traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers as the team finished an embarrassing 65-97.
August 2, 2022. The big change.
Rumours began that Juan Soto, the finest pure hitter in the sport today and one of the most gifted young baseball players of the last 50 years, might be on the move. It was hard to fathom such a thing, even for the now terrible Natonals.
Even as reports continued to surface that the deal was getting close, it was hard to believe.
And then, it happened. It was made official that Soto had been traded to the San Diego Padres for a variety of talented prospects.
Change.
The disbelief I felt when the Nationals traded Soto has started to fade. I’m left trying to figure out why or how this happened. I'm still confounded, surely. I’m not sure that feeling is going anywhere. The team went from on top of the world to a shell of itself in the blink of an eye.
It’s certainly not the first team to do this; the Chicago Cubs followed a very similar trajectory after their 2016 World Series victory. I’m tempted to say that the Nationals followed the Florida Marlins game plans of 1997 and 2003; win big and cash out.
The problem with cashing out, by definition, is that you’re out of the game. There is no more winning to be done.
I’m not entirely sure it’s fair to paint the Nationals with the same brush as those Marlins teams of yesteryear, the 1997 and 2003 championship teams that won the World Series and then traded every player worth their salt. I’m also not entirely sure it’s not. The Nationals did not make any reasonable attempts to improve the roster as their superstars left for greener pastures. They are one of the worst performing and unwatchable teams in baseball sans Soto.
While Washington faithful have known this for a while, the trade of Juan Soto is a final acknowledgement that winning is on their periphery, not to be stared directly at for some time.
Flags fly forever, of course; a phrase co-opted by teams and fans alike who are celebrating a win in the face of criticism and critique. And certainly, Nationals faithful will look back fondly on their 2019 championship. But that doesn’t mean this needed to happen. We see the Dodgers and Astros perennially challenge for the World Series, even after winning. Other teams like the Yankees are in the hunt every season.
Change is on the horizon for Juan Soto. He will play for one of the best teams in baseball again, joining a crew of lovable and energetic young players who are looking to finally leave their mark in the postseason.
Change is also here for the Nationals. Like picking up the pieces of a puzzle dropped on the floor, they’ll hope they all fit together once again to create a complete picture.
Something tells me there might be a piece missing.