Crazy Ernie Banks comparison shows why the Cubs should break the bank for Juan Soto

It feels like Juan Soto has been around forever, right? He broke into the league shortly after the Chicago Cubs won it all, making his MLB debut with the Washington Nationals in 2018 as a 19-year-old superstar-in-the-making.

All he's done since then is win a World Series ring, a batting title, four Silver Sluggers and make four All-Star Games. Oh, and this year, he helped take a New York Yankees team that went 82-80 last season and help it with 94 games en route to an AL East title and American League pennant.

There's no questioning how good Soto is. After all, he was singlehandedly worth 7.9 bWAR this year - which is the total of the Cubs' two best players combined in Dansby Swanson and Ian Happ. He couldn't have done more for himself heading into free agency this winter, when it's widely expected he and agent Scott Boras will take aim at a contract in the neighborhood of Shohei Ohtani's record-setting deal from a year ago.

Juan Soto makes so much sense for the Cubs in free agency - but all signs point to the team being a complete non-factor in the race

In all honesty, the chances the Cubs sign Soto sit at about 0.01%. There's nothing you, I or anyone else could say to Tom Ricketts to spend the (at least) half a billion dollars it's going to take to lock him up for the rest of his career. But when a player who's hitting the market at just 26 years of age with a resume like this draws comparisons to Cubs legend Ernie Banks, it's worth taking note.

In his 19-year Hall of Fame career, Banks walked 763 times. In his seven years in the bigs, Soto, meanwhile, has drawn 769 walks - a testament to his eye and approach at the plate. Of course, it's not as cut-and-dry as that, though. Soto strikes out at a much higher clip, but that's largely due to how the game has changed since the 1950s.

Looking at Banks' and Soto's first seven years in the league - here's how they stack up:

• Banks: .292 /.354/.557 - 267 HR - 772 RBI - 140 OPS+
• Soto: .285/.421/.532 - 201 HR - 592 RBI - 160 OPS+

During that stretch, Mr. Cub racked up the hardware, earning All-Star selections in all but his 1954 season, in which he finished runner-up in Rookie of the Year voting to St. Louis' Wally Moon, a Gold Glove and back-to-back MVP awards in 1958 and 1959. Of course, he never accomplished what Soto did with Washington as a rookie - win a World Series - but that shouldn't detract from what he brought to the team on a yearly basis.

Generational talents don't come cheap. Cubs ownership needs to realize that and make an exception to the budget-conscious model it's embraced in the wake of its 2016 championship. Few players can have the sort of impact Soto would - and given his age, he could be a force for a decade before starting to tail off, giving the team a lengthy window to challenge for rings.