3. The Padres will probably want Cade Horton
San Diego's wealth of position players and their urgency to compete makes hitting prospects less valuable in a potential trade. According to ESPN's Jeff Passan, the team is most interested in MLB-close starting pitching prospects to help fill the hole Blake Snell's eventual departure will leave.
The Cubs do have a lot of those, including RHP Cade Horton who is now a top-30 prospect in all of baseball according to MLB. Make no mistake, the Padres are putting one of the best hitters in baseball on the block this winter. You better believe that if the Cubs come calling, the Padres will ask for Horton in return, regardless of when Soto hits free agency. They would honestly be fools not to demand Horton.
I think I speak for most Cubs fans in saying that if Horton is the price for one year of Soto, the Cubs front office should say "No thank you." Horton is projected to be a valuable piece of the Cubs rotation soon so trading him doesn't make sense right now.