MLB Rumors: Juan Soto's Brother To Commit To Nationals, Not Mets

As if one Soto wasn't enough. Watch out, MLB, the Washington Nationals are close to fielding two of them. Reports say that superstar Juan Soto's younger brother Elian intends to sign with the Nationals organization when he is eligible.

Despite the initial expectation that he'd sign with the Mets, Juan Soto's younger brother Elian intends to sign with the Nationals instead come January 2023. pic.twitter.com/JvKvcrHFgV

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) January 10, 2022

To be clear, it's not until January 2023 that the 16-year-old will be eligible to sign as an international free agent. But this is seen as a coup of sorts for the Nationals. Last week the New York Mets were seen as the leading contender to sign him, as evidenced by a social media post: 

Elian Soto (younger brother of Juan Soto) posted this workout video — wearing full #Mets gear — on Instagram.

Caption: "Are you ready for what's coming this year?" pic.twitter.com/xRs3MvUr1B

— Jacob Resnick (@Jacob_Resnick) December 31, 2021

The younger Soto brother posted a workout video of himself wearing Mets gear, with the caption "Are you ready for what's coming this year?"

It's been reported that MVP-candidate Juan had some influence in the meantime, swaying baby bro to commit to the Nats. 

Elian is an OF/3B, who is said to feature power as his best tool, and according to an earlier report, Toronto Blue Jays' superstar Vladimir Guerrero Jr. said of the younger Soto last year: “He hit harder than Juan Soto when he was 15 years old.”

The one caveat, as reported by Nationals reporter Jesse Dougherty, is that there's a chance that international free agency could change, and become a draft, under any new collective bargaining agreement (which is of course, sort of, still under negotiation.)