Juan Soto had spent his whole career basking in the spotlight, and at first, this felt no differently.
He loved the attention when he was demolishing the majors at age 19. He loved it when he hit three World Series home runs for the Nationals in 2019. He loved it when the cameras zoomed in on him as he added increasingly intricate gestures to the dance he does after taking a close pitch, the Soto Shuffle, and as he debuted a necklace last spring bearing a diamond-encrusted version of himself doing it. So when he again became the talk of the sport last July, this time for turning down a record $440 million, 15-year offer to spend the rest of his career in Washington, he expected he would enjoy that attention, too.
And he did, for a while. The day after The Athletic reported he had rejected the deal and the Nationals would consider trading him, Soto flew to Los Angeles for the All-Star Game. He arrived eight minutes early for his scheduled media availability and spent an hour grinning and bantering with reporters. He won the Home Run Derby that night. But the longer the circus went on, the less he felt like the ringmaster.
