The illusion of seeing Juan Soto playing winter ball comes to an end with the information offered by the Licey Tigers yesterday that the San Diego Padres denied permission for the outfielder to play in the 2022-2023 Round Robin.
“We have been in constant conversations with Juan Soto, he has had a positive attitude regarding the intention of uniforming with us. But his organization had the last word and in the end he decided that the best thing for the player was not to allow him to play in the winter,” Audo Vicente said in a statement from the Dominican club.
In recent weeks there had been evidence of a rapprochement between the management of Club Atlético Licey and Juan Soto, which had fostered an ideal environment for the Major League star to put on his uniform and play for the first time in his professional career on Dominican soil. .
In addition, on multiple occasions, general manager Audo Vicente expressed his optimism about Soto’s entry into the game, although he always clarified that the San Diego Padres had the last word on the matter.
Soto himself also declared last December that he had every intention of playing but pointed out that for this he had to receive the go-ahead from his organization and get 100% in his physical condition.
The statement issued by the Tigers states that as an organization they did “everything humanly possible to obtain said permit, but that it is something that is beyond the domain of the department he directs” and added that Soto has authorization to participate in the World Baseball Classic. to be held in March 2023.
Juan Soto was chosen by the Tigres del Licey in the first round during the 2017 Lidom Rookie Draft and so far he has not had the opportunity to debut in Dominican winter ball.
