Vincent Frank
Throughout the early stages of the offseason, rumors have surrounded a potential Juan Soto trade from the San Diego Padres.
There are numerous reasons for this. San Diego is looking to cut its payroll after taking out a huge loan from MLB to meet some of its $256 million figure from last season. Secondly, Soto is set to become a free agent after next season and doesn’t seem to be open to an extension before then. Add in Scott Boras’ status as Soto’s agent, and an extension is extremely unlikely.
According to this note from MLB’s Jon Paul Morosi, there is now enough interest in Soto’s services for us to believe that he could be traded before the end of the upcoming Winter Meetings in early December.
Morosi also reports that one American League East team has to be seen as the favorite to land the five-tool talent.
“I have to believe, with the surprising dearth of left-handed power that they had this year, the Yankees are going to be all over Soto in the same way that they are all over Cody Bellinger,” report on likely Juan Soto landing spot.
New York has come up big time in Soto trade rumors. It seems to be a logical fit for the perennial MVP candidate. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman has also noted this offseason that there is a need for a left-handed bat in the Pinstripes lineup.
Related: Ideal Juan Soto trade scenarios
Juan Soto stats (2023): .275 average, 35 HR, 109 RBI, .930 OPS
As you can see, Soto would be a marked upgrade in the Yankees’ lineup. The question here would be San Diego’s asking price and the finances. Soto is set to earn an estimated $27 million in his final season of arbitration.
The Padres could potentially pay down some of that in order to acquire a bigger haul in a trade. If not, the return might not be as great as first imagined for someone of Soto’s ilk.
San Diego is said to be looking for controllable young starting pitching in return for Soto. New York certainly has that in No. 4 prospect Chase Hampton and No. 5 prospect Drew Thorpe. Though, both are a ways away from the Majors.
Instead, quantity could become the name of the game here. No. 10 prospect Will Warren could very well be ready to be a member of the MLB Opening Day rotation. Ranked 14th in the Yankees’ farm system, Randy
Vásquez saw a cup of coffee with the Yanks this past season (2-2 record, 2.87 ERA, 1.27 WHIP).
