The New York Yankees have gotten a little stronger for the 2024 season. On Wednesday night, the team acquired Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in a blockbuster seven-player trade.
Soto comes to the Yankees with outfielder Trent Grisham in exchange for five players: pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez, plus catcher Kyle Higashioka. Thorpe is ranked 99th in the MLB Pipeline rankings, while Vásquez was the Yankees’ No. 13 prospect.“He IS a very good offensive player,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Soto before the trade was completed, according to MLB.com. “He’s an offensive machine – in terms of base and power, and he’s accomplished a lot at a young age.”Soto, 25, spent nearly two seasons with the Padres after joining the Washington Nationals. In 214 games, Soto hit 41 home runs with 125 RBIs and an OPS of .893. Last season, Soto was named an All-Star after hitting 35 home runs and driving in 109 runs.In 2018, Soto made his MLB debut with the Nationals and finished second in NL Rookie of the Year voting. The following season, Soto finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting and helped the Nationals win the World Series. During his career, Sooto was named an All-Star three times, won the Silver Slugger Award four times, and was named to the All-MLB team three times.“They made it clear this was a deal and they wanted a player,” Padres general manager A.J. said,” Preller said. “Brian is pretty direct and I think they made it pretty clear. Everyone understood that they had a need and Juan is an incredible player who meets those needs very well. When you have two teams lined up and one team is constantly calling you, you feel like it’s something that has a chance. »The signing of Soto gives the Yankees a great chance to reach the World Series next season. The team now has its version of the Big Three with Soto, Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. In 2023, Judge hit 37 home runs and 75 RBI in just 106 games. Stanton hit 24 home runs and 60 RBIs in 101 games.
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