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Juan Soto might be happy with the Yankees, but the Nationals should bring him home

Jul 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) flips his bat after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jul 24, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Juan Soto (22) flips his bat after hitting a solo home run against the New York Mets during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

This is For The Win’s daily newsletter, The Morning Win. Did a friend recommend or forward this to you? If so, subscribe here. Have feedback? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey! Now, here’s Mike Sykes.

Good morning, Winners! Welcome back to the Morning Win. Thanks so much for rocking with us today. We appreciate you giving us a bit of your time.

All season long, Juan Soto's pending free agency has been a bit of an elephant in the room for the Yankees.

Soto has played incredibly well. He's been the team's second-best player only because Aaron Judge has been generational. The Yankees have made it clear they'd like to keep him around. And, for what it's worth, Soto has also said he's happy in New York.

But it's also clear he'd be pretty happy back in D.C., too.

I'm just saying, Yankees fans! The guy misses the Nationals! Don't shoot the messenger here. Soto is the one waxing poetic about his time in D.C. every time it gets brought up.

On Monday when he was asked to compare his old clubhouse with the Nats in 2019 to the one he's currently in with the Yankees, he told reporters, “I’ll say nothing is gonna be like what we have with the Nationals in 2019 but definitely this is really close to what we have back then."

He's also still friends with the staffers at Nationals Park. On top of that, the crowd still loves him. And he, them. Look at this ovation he gets and how he soaks it all in.

That looks like a guy who might just want that old thing back, folks. I'm not saying — I'm just saying!

This is like one of those rom-coms where we're following a couple who broke up fresh out of college. They separate apart for a few years but serendipitously end up in the same party in the same city for a weekend and give each other googly eyes the entire time while everyone awkwardly watches. It's not quite a "will they or won't they" thing just yet but it's definitely getting there and it's kind of hilariously uncomfortable.

That's what we're looking at here. Soto misses D.C. and D.C. misses him back.

Soto has said before that he never wanted to leave the Nationals when the team traded him. To be fair, the deal was probably better for both sides. Soto has an impending $600 million payday coming up and the Nationals have now restocked their cupboard with young, cheap talent like James Woods and Dylan Crews. CJ Abrams has become an All-Star.

Washington's rebuild has been accelerated and, soon, the team will be ready to compete again. Wouldn't it be sweet if Soto was back around for it?

In all likelihood, Soto will probably remain a Yankee, or the Mets might offer him a ton of money. The Yankees should pony up the cash to keep him around and the batting ahead of a talent like Judge — arguably the best player in the league — will probably be too hard to pass up.

But there's a chance, folks! There's a chance.

The Rise of the Lynx

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA - AUGUST 24: Napheesa Collier #24 and Alanna Smith #8 of the Minnesota Lynx celebrate after a play in the first quarter of the game against the Indiana Fever at Target Center on August 24, 2024 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)

Our Meg Hall put together her weekly WNBA Power Rankings and the Minnesota Lynx are on a hot streak with six straight wins, including two over A'ja Wilson's Las Vegas Aces.

It's all driven by Napheesa Collier's brilliant play, Meg writes. She might not win MVP, but she should at least be considered if she keeps this up.

Tread carefully, Mr. Day.

Quick hits: Cuts, cuts and more cuts ... The Kelce cash out ... and more

— We've got a running list of every team's released NFL players, from vets to rookies, ahead of the league's cutdown day.

— Here's Christian D'Andrea with the most notable players from those cuts, too.

— Here's Charles Curtis with more details on the Kelce's deal with Amazon's Wondery for the New Heights podcast.

Caitlin Clark is magical. Here's Cory Woodroof with more.

— Dabo Swinney isn't taking calls anymore. Here's Cory again with more on that.

— Jerry Jones has the most delusional answer on why he should still be the Cowboys' GM. Here's Robert Zeglinski with more.

-Sykes ✌️

This article originally appeared on For The Win: Juan Soto might be happy with the Yankees, but the Nationals should bring him home