Yankees Trade for Juan Soto, Trent Grisham; Padres Get Michael King, Thorpe, More
December 6, 2023
The New York Yankees have completed a trade with the San Diego Padres to bring three-time All-Star Juan Soto to the Bronx, the team announced Wednesday.
Joel Sherman of the New York Post first reported the completed trade.
Jeff Passan of ESPN provided a full look at the deal, with the Yankees also getting center fielder Trent Grisham and the Padres receiving pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Randy Vazquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Jeff Passan @JeffPassanFull trade, per ESPN sources:<br> <br>Yankees receive: outfielders Juan Soto and Trent Grisham.<br> <br>Padres receive: right-handed pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and catcher Kyle Higashioka.<a href="https://twitter.com/Joelsherman1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Joelsherman1</a> was on top of the deal.
Jon Morosi of MLB Network previously reported the deal was close, adding that right-handers Thorpe (New York's No. 5 overall prospect) and King would headline a package going to San Diego:
Andy Martino of SNY added pitcher Jhony Brito, pitcher Randy Vásquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka would be involved in the deal:
It marks the second time in just over two years that Soto has been traded. The Padres acquired him prior to the trade deadline in 2022 after he turned down a $440 million extension from the Washington Nationals, per The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal.
The 2022 campaign was a down year by Soto's standards, but he still finished with a .242/.401/.452 slash line with 27 homers and 62 RBI in 153 games between the Nationals and Padres.
Soto got back on track in 2023 with a .275/.410/.519 slash line and 35 homers in 568 at-bats.
The Dominican has posted an on-base percentage over .400 in each of his six seasons, including leading MLB in 2020 (.490) and 2021 (.465).
After reaching the National League Championship Series last season, Padres management went all-in on spending big with the hopes of getting the franchise its first World Series title.
Manny Machado signed an 11-year, $350 million extension in February 2023 after he made it clear he planned to use the opt-out in his previous deal after this season. Yu Darvish re-signed with the team for six years and $108 million two weeks before Machado's deal got done.
The Padres stunned everyone in free agency when they signed Xander Bogaerts away from the Boston Red Sox for $280 million over 11 years. All of those deals pushed San Diego's payroll up to $256 million for the 2023 season.
While Soto was a bright spot for the Padres, the team around him was one of the biggest disappointments in MLB. They finished third in the NL West with an 82-80 record.
Amid their frustrating finish this season after making it to the NLCS in 2022, Kevin Acee of the San Diego Union-Tribune reported the Padres were likely going to cut their payroll down to around $200 million in 2024.
The Padres could have gone into next season with Soto hoping to contend and evaluate things around the trade deadline to determine if they were going to keep him, but making the move now when he has one full year of team control remaining did allow general manager A.J. Preller to ask for more in a trade.
Rather than risk losing Soto for nothing, the Padres are on the verge of being able to recoup some players whom they hope will be able to help them in the future. They could also potentially sign him next offseason if ownership decides to jump back into the superstar end of the free-agent pool.
Despite having the 2022 AL MVP and 2023 AL Cy Young winner, the Yankees roster is a mess that needed a lot of work this offseason to be a World Series contender next season.
New York's big-spending approach in free agency last winter largely backfired. Aaron Judge was still very good when he played, but injuries limited him to 106 games. Carlos Rodón made only 14 starts and had the fifth-worst ERA (6.85) among all AL pitchers with at least 60 innings pitched.
Judge and Gleyber Torres were the team's only position players with an average or better OPS+ in more than 50 plate appearances.
After Shohei Ohtani, the best offensive player available in either free agency or via trade was Soto. He's an on-base machine and set a career high with 35 homers last season.
Soto's power output could get even better in 2024 because he will get to play his home games in Yankee Stadium with the short porch in right field. He's instantly the second-best hitter in the lineup after Judge.
Even after this deal, there's still more work for general manager Brian Cashman to do to make this team a World Series contender. But this trade is a big swing that should pay huge dividends for the Yankees next season.