NEW YORK -- Two months before the Trade Deadline on Aug. 2, Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo put one hot topic of buzz to rest.

¡°We are not trading Juan Soto,¡± Rizzo said Wednesday on 106.7 The Fan¡¯s The Sports Junkies program. ¡°We made it clear to his agent and to the player.¡±

Soto does not become a free agent until after the 2024 season, but the 23-year-old¡¯s future has been a heavily discussed question mark since he quickly skyrocketed into one of the most dominant players in baseball.

Rizzo said the team had conversations with Soto¡¯s agent, Scott Boras, during a recent visit to Washington, D.C. Although there has not been a contract extension -- ESPN¡¯s Enrique Rojas reported this offseason Washington had offered a 13-year deal worth $350 million -- that does not alter the Nationals¡¯ stance on their goals for a long-term plan with the 2021 National League MVP runner up.

¡°It doesn¡¯t frustrate me,¡± Rizzo said of trade talks on Wednesday in the visitor¡¯s dugout at Citi Field. ¡°I get it. You guys got a blank piece of paper every day to fill up, and this is a very clickable, very writable story. And I can only say it so many times and in so many words what our decision on that topic is.¡±

Soto is two years removed from winning the NL batting title in 2020, and he is coming off a ¡®21 season in which he hit .313, belted 29 home runs and led all players in on-base percentage (.465) and walks (145). Through the first 51 games of his fifth Major League season, Soto is slashing .232/.379/.442 with nine homers and a league-high 42 walks. Manager Dave Martinez has moved him from the No. 2 spot in the lineup back to No. 3, where he has hit most of his career, as he works through timing and the adjustments pitchers are making against him.

¡°He¡¯s a great hitter, even though the average isn¡¯t where he wants it to be right now,¡± Rizzo said. ¡°They pitch him like Babe Ruth. Every team does. He¡¯s circled on everybody¡¯s lineup card: ¡®This is the guy that¡¯s not going to beat us.¡¯ He sees the least amount of fastballs in baseball, he sees the most offspeed pitches in baseball and he¡¯s got the ingredients that all the great hitters have. He¡¯s got great bat speed, great balance at the plate, he¡¯s often ahead in the count because he¡¯s got a great knowledge of the strike zone -- that hasn¡¯t changed.

¡°I think that when he¡¯s hitting where he¡¯s hitting today on June 1, he¡¯s got a lot of hits coming because he¡¯s going to be where he¡¯s going to be because he¡¯s Juan Soto.¡±

After emerging as a young star on a World Series championship winning team in 2019, Soto now is an established, young centerpiece on a team going through an organizational reboot following a roster overhaul at last season¡¯s Trade Deadline. The landscape of the team has changed, but Rizzo has not seen that impact Soto¡¯s approach to the game.

¡°We have a lot of things to worry about with the Nationals. Juan Soto is not one of them,¡± Rizzo said. ¡°He¡¯s a great player, he¡¯s a great person, he¡¯s a great leader. The only difference I see is he¡¯s taken a more aggressive leadership role in the reboot that we have now. At the end of the day, he¡¯s Juan Soto, he¡¯s going to be Juan Soto and I wish I had a lot more like him.¡±