Now, it all seems so obvious. The biggest trade deadline blockbuster in history was destined to wind up with Nationals GM Mike Rizzo having only the Padres to meet his exorbitant price for a player he had to trade, Juan Soto, the most valuable player ever placed on the midseason market. Only the Padres, with its playoff-starved ownership, its riverboat gambler of a GM and the largest U.S. baseball market without an NFL team, could go all in—and then some.
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And if you are a true baseball fan, which means you believe possibility is a hope and not a mathematical theorem, you should be thankful for San Diego.