Juan Soto Reveals He Once Thought He Would Sign With the Padres

Juan Soto is busy trying to bring the Washington Nationals their franchise's first-ever World Series title, but it wasn't too long ago that the 21-year-old was a prospect still looking for an organization to sign with.

And things could have been entirely different for the bright-eyed face of the Nats. Back when he was still trying out for teams in 2015, Soto actually believed that it would be the San Diego Padres that he'd ultimately end up with.

Soto was atop the Padres' scouting board alongside the likes of Fernando Tatis Jr., and for a while, it seemed to him that they were the most likely destination. But San Diego's dogged pursuit of other prospects both in that year and in years prior gave Washington all the leverage they needed to snag the highly-coveted phenom off the board.

If things had gone differently, Padres would have had one of the most exciting young outfielders in baseball instead of the electrifying Tatis, and the Nationals, who owe so much of their deep October run to Soto's heroics, might have been less keen on letting superstar Bryce Harper walk in free agency.

The landscape of the league could have been quite different had Soto landed in San Diego. Now, he's now two wins away from capturing a championship in just his second year in the bigs.

Baseball, and sports as a whole, will always be about "what ifs." This, however, could potentially stand out as one of the most game-changing decision made in MLB in this decade.