How Soto trade has been 'mutually beneficial' for Padres, Yanks

SAN DIEGO -- Juan Soto is dominating headlines again. On Tuesday, Soto hit three home runs against the White Sox. He’s in the midst of arguably his best season in what already looks like a Hall of Fame career. The Padres, of course, traded Soto to the Yankees in the offseason.

And you know what? They seem to be OK with that.

That’s no knock on Soto. It was clearly difficult to trade a player of his caliber. But with three-quarters of the season in the books, it’s worth asking: Where would these Padres be had they not traded Soto?

On the same night as Soto’s first career three-homer game, Michael King was dominating the Pirates 2,000 miles away at Petco Park. He struck out 10 across six innings in a 3-0 Padres victory. In the process, King lowered his ERA to 3.19, as San Diego improved to a season-high 15 games above .500.

King is an astute baseball observer. He’s spoken with Padres general manager A.J. Preller on multiple occasions about the inner workings of that trade and others. He’s come away with this observation:

“I think being a GM is a miserable job,” King said. “Because it's so hard. When they traded for Soto, you have to give up players that you know possibly are going to be All-Stars. Obviously, the Nationals have a very good group of young guys. When you then trade Soto away, it's got to be a hard feeling as a GM to be like: This is arguably the best player in baseball I'm giving up. I better get something in return.

“It's a risk. … So I give a lot of credit to Preller for having the [guts] to get rid of a top-three player in the big leagues and know that we're going to put together a lineup that can still compete.”

King, of course, was only one piece in that five-player package for Soto. Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez have provided the pitching staff with the depth it sorely needed. Kyle Higashioka has been strong defensively and, while splitting time with Luis Campusano, is slugging like prime Johnny Bench.

And then there’s Drew Thorpe, the top prospect sent to the White Sox in the Dylan Cease deal. Cease has emerged as the Padres’ ace -- their potential Game 1 starter. Perhaps there’s a way to make that deal happen without Thorpe. But if so, do the Padres still have enough to trade for Luis Arraez? Or to turn their bullpen into one of the best in baseball at the Trade Deadline?

“If you look at what I think of as great playoff teams -- it's teams that have pitching depth,” King said. “It's a great bullpen and starting pitching that can win you games.”

Beyond that, the Padres have (somewhat unbelievably) managed to replace the outfield production they shipped away in that trade. Along with Soto, they sent Trent Grisham to New York, leaving glaring holes in left and center.

That worked out OK. The Padres signed Jurickson Profar for peanuts in Spring Training, and while he hasn’t equaled Soto’s production, he’s been pretty darn good and should receive down-ballot MVP votes. In the meantime, the Padres handed the reins to a then-20-year-old Jackson Merrill in center field -- despite the fact that Merrill had never played a game in center at any level.

The result? Along with Fernando Tatis Jr., all three Padres outfielders were All-Stars. That’s not saying Soto wouldn’t have had a place. It’s just saying … this Padres team clearly needed multiple quality pitchers more than it needed a single corner outfielder -- no matter how good that corner outfielder was.

The Yankees won’t mind that trade-off. Soto is hitting .306 with a whopping 192 wRC+. (Then again, their bill comes due at the end of the season, when Soto is a free agent. The Padres have King and Cease on board through 2025, and Brito and Vásquez well beyond that.)

Still, Soto has been exactly what the Yankees needed. King always figured he would be.

“Obviously, I was on that team,” King said. “And I knew the lack of bats we had in front of [Aaron] Judge. … So I think it was necessary for the Yankees to trade for him. And I think it's been huge for our pitching staff to have the depth we have. I think it's a mutually beneficial trade.”

One that has two teams -- both disappointments in 2023 -- on course for October.