The New York Yankees have grown in strength for the 2024 season. The team acquired Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in a seven-player blockbuster trade on Wednesday night. Soto was traded to the Yankees along with outfielder Trent Grisham for five players: pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, and Randy Vásquez, as well as catcher Kyle Higashioka. Thorpe is ranked 99th in MLB Pipeline, while Vásquez is the Yankees’ 13th-ranked prospect.
Before the trade, Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Soto, “He’s as good an offensive player as there is,” according to MLB.com. “He is a machine offensively — on base, power, and has accomplished a ton already at a young age.”
Soto, 25, spent nearly two seasons with the Padres after being acquired from the Washington Nationals in a trade. Soto hit 41 home runs, drove in 125 runs, and had an OPS of.893 in 214 games. Soto was named an All-Star last season after hitting 35 home runs and driving in 109 runs.
Soto made his MLB debut with the Nationals in 2018 and finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting. Soto finished in the top ten in NL MVP voting the following season and helped the Nationals win the World Series. Sooto has been named an All-Star three times, won the Silver Slugger Award four times, and been named to the All-MLB Team three times in his career.
“They clearly made it known that this was a deal and a player [they wanted],” Padres general manager A.J. Preller said. “Brian is quite direct, and I believe they were quite clear. Everyone recognized that they had a need, and Juan is an incredible player who fit the bill perfectly. When you have two teams lined up and a team calling you on a consistent basis, you know this has a chance to happen.”
The addition of Soto increases the Yankees’ chances of winning the World Series next season. With Soto, Aaron Judge, and Giancarlo Stanton, the team now has its own Big Three. Judge hit 37 home runs and 75 RBIs in 106 games in 2023. In 101 games, Stanton had 24 home runs and 60 RBIs.
Leave a Reply