The San Diego Padres and the New York Yankees have a trade deal that includes seven players on the last day of their winter meeting on Wednesday (Korea time). Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and manager Aaron Boone left Nashville. It has not been officially announced yet.
MLB Network reporter John Morosi posted on social media that the Yankees received left-handed hitters outfielders Soto and Trent Grisham, while the Padres were trading pitchers Michael King, Jonny Brito, Randy Baskell, Drew Toffee and catcher Kyle Higashiia. MLB Network also reported that the trade is definitive. As expected, the Yankees received a left-handed batter and the Padres a pitcher.
The Padres have left a gap on the mound with starting pitcher Break Snell and closing pitcher Josh Hader as free agents. They offer qualifying offers to the two players side by side, and if other teams sign a contract, they will be rewarded with draft rights. 스포츠토토
Initially, it was reported that the Padres would include Soto and first baseman Jake Cronenworth. Cronenworth signed a seven-year, 80-million-dollar long-term contract earlier this season. Soto, whose annual salary in 2023 of $23 million, will become a free agent after the 2024 season, while Grisham will be available after the 2025 season. Grisham, a Gold Glove award-winning player, was eligible for salary adjustment in 2023.
The Yankees have added three more left-handed batters over the past two days: Alex Verdugo with the Boston Red Sox, Juan Soto with the San Diego Padres, and Trent Grisham with the San Diego Padres. Cashman, however, declared that the Yankees’ center fielder is Aaron Judge. Left fielder Alex Verdugo, center fielder Aaron Judge, and right fielder Juan Soto are expected to take over.
Yankee Stadium is a stadium that is advantageous for left-handed hitters. This season, 123 home runs were hit. San Diego Petco Park has produced 86 home runs. It is a perfect stadium for Soto.
Soto, born in the Dominican Republic, is already in his seventh year of MLB career at the age of 25. He made his debut with the Washington Nationals in 2018 at the age of 19. He played in all games this year and recovered from his slump last season with a batting average of 0.275-35 home runs – 109 RBIs and an OPS of 0.930. His six-year MLB career record is 0.284-160 home runs – 483 RBIs and an OPS of 0.946.
Grisham was batting .198-13 with 50 RBIs this year, failing to meet expectations. He is a platoon player.
The Washington Nationals offered Soto a 15-year, 440-million-dollar long-term contract for the 2022 season, but when they rejected the offer, they traded the deal to the San Diego Padres on Aug. 2. From the Yankees’ perspective, he will become an FA after the 2024 season, so he is a one-year loan player. If the deal ends with just one season, pitchers will leak out a lot.
However, as the team is a Yankees, a long-term contract is possible. This was the reason why the team suddenly turned to the Yankees after rumors of a Seattle Mariners trade were reported. Seattle is cutting its annual salary.
Yankees have failed to advance to the postseason since 2016. The poor mound and the weak left-handed line were decisive. Soto has emerged as a fixer to fill the weak left-handed line.