Late last night the New York Yankees and the San Diego Padres made a trade that has been consuming the world of baseball for the past couple of days. At around 10:40 last night, Joel Sherman, a baseball columnist for the New York Post announced that the New York Yankees have acquired outfielders Juan Soto and Trent Grisham from the San Diego Padres and while the players from the Yankees side weren’t fully announced, there was a lot of speculation on who the Yankees would be giving up. Once the trade was formally announced at 11:20 PM, the Yankees announced they would be sending right handed pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and longtime Yankee catcher Kyle Higashioka in exchange for Soto and Grisham.
The big piece of this whole trade for the Yankees is in Juan Soto, the 25 year old left handed bat outfielder who in his short career has already done so much in his very short career. This includes helping the Washington Nationals win their first World Series in franchise history, taking the National League batting title in 2020 and on top of all that he is a four time Silver Slugger and is a three time All Star for the National League. Soto, who is a career .284 hitter with 160 home runs and nearly 500 RBIs is someone the Yankees have been in the market for. Soto is a batter who is disciplined at the plate but is also not afraid to let the ball fly, and as a left handed batter it is someone who the Yankees have been needing for the longest time. The last time the Yankees picked up a power lefty bat was in the trade acquisition of Joey Gallo, and while many fans loved the personality of Gallo in NY (myself included) the less said about his short tenure for the Yankees, the better. On top of him the acquisition of first baseman Anthony Rizzo has been very solid for the Yankees but the worry of injuries is always going to be there.
While the Yankees hope they have found their long term option with Soto in right field to pair with their captain Aaron Judge, the big question with Soto is his looming free agency that is pending. So while the Yankees are still searching for players to add to this already, on paper, stacked roster including Japanese pitching sensation Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Yankees GM Brian Cashman should already be in talks with Juan Soto’s agent for a long term extension with the Pinstripes.
While Juan Soto was the primary target for the Yankees in this trade, they were also able to add to the depth of the outfield, something that was a primary problem for the Yankees in the last season. With Juan Soto the Yankees acquired Trent Grisham, a 27 year old outfielder, primarily in center field, who is known for his defensive game over his hitting as Grisham is a two time Gold Glove Award winner and that is something that the Yankees would love to have come off the bench in late game situations. However he won’t most likely be a starter on this Yankees team as before Soto and Grisham even became Yankees, another outfielder was traded to the pinstripes.
Alex Verdugo, who has been a thorn in the side of the Yankees for most of his career, now finds himself now on the side of the “Evil Empire.” Verdugo was traded from the Boston Red Sox to the Yankees in exchange for 3 pitchers, Richard Fitts, Greg Weissert and Nicholas Judice, this being only the eighth trade between the division rivals, the earliest being just this year when the Yankees made a trade for outfielder Greg Allen. Verdugo, who is a career .280 hitter had his worst career batting average since 2018 this past season along with some reported disciplinary issues involving Verdugo and his pending free agency after this season, it seemed like the Red Sox were bound to deal him before the start of the new season. The Yankees should be expecting some solid numbers out of Verdugo this season as he is projected to slot into left field next to Judge in center and Soto in right, but the one looming question about Verdugo is how will the fans of New York react to a villain in their eyes. While we see what the Yankees have acquired in Soto and Grisham, what could they have possibly given up for a player of the caliber of Juan Soto? The answer is in relief pitcher Michael King, rookie pitchers Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and longtime Yankee Kyle Higashioka. Let’s start with the former bullpen arm for the Yankees in Michael King, King who is 28 has found himself as a major piece of the Yankees bullpen with some fans even calling for him to be the potential closer for the team however due to injuries in the past season, King found himself starting a couple of games for the pinstripes with his season record totaling 4-8 and a ERA just under 3.00. While the Padres haven’t formally done their free agency, I wonder if they have found their solution for a closer with Josh Hader hitting free agency. Two pieces that can be added together are both 25 year old starting pitchers Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez, who together made their MLB debut in 2023 for the Yankees with Brito being used more by the Yankees. However many fans could see the potential in the pitchers as they were both able to show flashes for the Yankees as they were able to fill in for an injured starting rotation and even a banged up bullpen, but now the hope for the Padres is that they turn into key starting rotation pieces. The last of the pitchers that were acquired by the Padres is Drew Thorpe, the 99th ranked prospect in the league, saw time between High A with the Hudson Valley Renegades and Double A with Somerset Patriots where he was able to show flashes of talent and pick up 14 wins between the 2 leagues, striking out 182 batters over 140 innings pitched.
This is the one pitcher who I personally hate seeing go because the talent was there and pitching is something that the Yankees have had issues with a lot of the time, but with a chance for a player like Soto it is absolutely worth moving Thorpe. The very last piece of this trade, and the only position player that the Padres got was in the longest tenured Yankee on the roster at the time in catcher Kyle Higashioka.
Higashioka, who is 33, spent nearly 10 years inside the Yankees organization before finally getting the chance to play in 2017 and he never looked back, becoming a key part to the backstop for the Yankees, and one of the most important roles he could have gotten was being Gerrit Cole’s personal catcher over then Yankee starting catcher Gary Sanchez. Once Sanchez found himself on the way out of New York, Higashioka was able to find himself playing in more games and becoming a key member of the Yankees. However once the Yankees traded for Jose Trevino, it seemed like Higashioka’s time may have been coming to an end and yet he still found his way into playing, especially when Jose Trevino was injured. Sadly it seemed like his time was nearing it’s end in the pinstripes as the Yankees called up rookie catcher Austin Wells late last year and it seems like the youth has beaten the experience. Higashioka should make a fight for starting catcher for the Padres this season, and as a long time fan of Higgy, I personally am very happy to see him continue his long MLB career.
In conclusion Juan Soto should bring pop to the Yankees and pairing him with someone like Aaron Judge should put the Yanks in a push for World Championship #28 however it can not just come down to Soto and Judge. While the outfield seems fully set with the depth as well, the Yankees still need to upgrade the back end of their starting rotation and even look to upgrade the bullpen as much as they can. This trade is the best step in the right direction that they could have taken towards the promised land once again, but there is still a lot of work to be done until the Yankees are actually able to call themselves champions
once again.
Caden Balint is a graduate of La Salle Institute in Troy, NY and Merrimack College in North Andover, MA and has been in love with sports forever. Whether it is watching, playing, writing, sports have always been a passion. Getting the chance to start his dream of sports journalism with Stream Punk is just the start of a long journey. In his spare time Caden enjoys playing hockey, spending time with his loved ones and playing video games but you will soon get to know him a lot more!