Nationals' James Wood shows Padres what they're missing after historic trade

This could've been James Wood's stage every night.

The 6-foot-7 slugger was a San Diego Padres farmhand. But in 2022, he was part of a package also including CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore that went to the Washington Nationals for Juan Soto.

On Monday night, Wood showed the San Diego faithful what they were missing.

MORE: Looking back at the Juan Soto Nationals-Padres trade

There are very few hitters who take a same-sided breaking ball like this and destroy a laser off the foul pole.

But this is what Wood does. He blasts homers to all fields. He leads all NL outfielders with 22 home runs and counting this season.

James Wood crushes this one down the line! pic.twitter.com/QvWAsPJlu3

MORE: CJ Abrams joins Trea Turner with awesome record

In some ways, the Padres deserve respect for going for it. They made a deal for Soto at a time when they wanted to go and win the World Series.

It didn't work, and Soto didn't even last two full seasons in San Diego.

Meanwhile, Wood and his young star teammates are still on their initial MLB contracts for a few more years each.

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The Nats got off of Soto at the perfect time, and they essentially built their franchise's new foundation in the process. The Padres were happy to provide the very best building materials.

And now there's Wood (with a great night from Abrams mixed in) showing San Diego exactly what things could've been like.

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