The New York Yankees pulled off the first major move of the 2023 Major League Baseball offseason — and it was a jaw-dropper.
On Wednesday night, the Yankees re-directed their focus to the San Diego Padres and acquired three-time All-Star Juan Soto and fellow outfielder Trent Grisham, per team announcement.
In exchange, New York traded away right-handed pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vazquez, Johny Brito and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Soto, 25, was due to hit the trade block after San Diego’s failed attempt at going big spender mode toward a World Series. Last offseason, the Padres added shortstop Xander Bogaerts on a $280 million deal, joining Soto, Joe Musgrove, Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., to name a few.
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So, after going just 82-80 as arguably the biggest disappointment in the National League, the Padres missed postseason contention, signaling just enough reason to part ways with Soto. Taking notice of that, the Yankees, who also flopped in 2023, capitalized and went vulture mode at the first opportunity to give Aaron Judge a co-star in the outfield.
For starters, New York upgraded its lineup, which was the biggest need for the Yankees entering the offseason.
New York ranked second-to-last in 2023, hitting a humbling .227, barely above to bottom-of-the-barrel tanking Oakland Athletics (.223). The offense dragged the organization so low that manager Aaron Boone’s squad became the first Yankees team to fall below .500 through 120 games since 1995.
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Soto, having already won a World Series four years ago with the Washington Nationals, has plenty of postseason experience and finished sixth in NL MVP voting for 2023. He batted .275 with a career-high 35 home runs and 109 RBIs.
Featured image via Brad Penner/USA TODAY Sports Images
