NEWSLETTER
I find it hard to believe the San Diego Padres would trade Juan Soto *before* Shohei Ohtani picks his new home (given the potential interest from teams that might miss on Shohei Ohtani (like the Cubs!)), but I suppose there is one exception that makes sense: The New York Yankees.
For a number of legitimate reasons (geography, too many massive money deals at once, etc), the Yankees aren’t really involved in the Ohtani sweepstakes, which means they’re not a team holding back their other moves in the meantime. In addition, the Yankees are reportedly looking to add not one, but two outfielders this winter, ideally left-handed hitters. Cody Bellinger has been their reported focus for most of the offseason, but Soto is right up there. And the latest has those talks intensifying (via SNY):
Talks between the Yankees and the San Diego Padres about a Juan Soto trade have progressed to the point of exchanging names on players, league sources say. San Diego’s initial ask was very high — understandably so — and the teams are not close to an agreement.
The Padres are reportedly asking about top young players like Jasson Dominguez and Anthony Volpe, as well as cost controlled pitchers Michael King and Clarke Schmidt. But while the latter two could make some sense (and also align with what we know the Padres are seeking), I’ll be pretty shocked if Volpe or Dominguez come anywhere close to a Soto deal. It just shouldn’t take that much to acquire one-year of Soto at $33M.
Indeed, it sounds like the Yankees have already rebuffed those conversations, but talks are continuing nonetheless.
As a reminder, just yesterday Ken Rosenthal all but guaranteed Soto would be on the move this offseason, making it a matter of when and to whom, not if.
And then, weirdly, Jon Heyman started to push back on the idea of the Yankees acquiring Soto, but pretty much no one buys that. They’re definitely, heavily involved and interested. The question is whether they have the appetite to go after Soto while Cody Bellinger remains a free agent and high on their wish list.
In any case, exchanging names is a pretty significant step. And given the Cubs reported interest in Juan Soto (and the Yankees interest in Cody Bellinger), this is something you should definitely keep an eye on.
