August 2nd can't come soon enough! With the deadline quickly approaching, there seems to be a lot of confused minds on what the Nationals will do with Juan Soto at this year's trade deadline. Will the Nationals' actually trade Juan Soto? Will they hold him until the offseason? Will the eventual new owners make a splash and sign Soto to a long-term record-breaking deal? While only time will tell, according to ESPN insider Jeff Passan, for "every official who believes Soto goes, there's another who is convinced he stays."

The potential trade of Juan Soto is extremely difficult which is leading to many different thoughts and opinions from front-office executives around the league about whether the Washington Nationals star will be moved before the deadline, Passan writes today on ESPN +.

"The chatter is certain to ratchet up in the coming days," Passan writes, "as perhaps the foremost question comes into focus as the deadline nears: Will GM Mike Rizzo hold firm on the exceptionally high asks that sources told ESPN have been put out to teams, or will he relent slightly, if moving Soto is not something the Nationals are just considering, but actively planning?"

The ownership question doesn't help clear things up. It makes this situation even more complicated, according to Passan's article: "Multiple executives involved in Soto trade discussions said they were unsure. One believes Soto is moving regardless because of the team's ownership status. The Nationals currently are up for sale, and the notion that new ownership's first move would be to trade a future Hall of Famer in his early prime, the executive said, is problematic. Dealing Soto now, he said, would offer the new owner a clean slate."

No matter what, the intensity of rumors, speculation, and analysis will only continue as we approach the MLB trade deadline; thank goodness we are only seven days away from that, but who's counting?

Passan's full synopsis of the Soto situation is worth the read on ESPN+ and of course, make sure that you stay with the Nats Report as we document each twist and turn.