The New York Yankees acquired superstar outfielder Juan Soto in a blockbuster seven-player trade, the team announced on Wednesday.
The 25-year-old arrives in New York alongside fellow outfielder Trent Grisham, while five players head in the opposite direction to the San Diego Padres; pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito and Randy Vásquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
MLB Pipeline – the league’s official portal for grading young players – lists Thorpe as the No. 99 prospect on their Top 100 list; he did end the 2023 season on the injured list with a subluxation in his non-throwing shoulder.
Soto is a three-time All-Star who hit 35 home runs and had 109 runs batted in (RBIs) with a .275 batting average last season for San Diego.
Soto led Major League Baseball (MLB) with 132 walks, finishing sixth in the National League MVP race after an excellent personal season.
“He’s as good an offensive player as there is,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said of Soto before the trade was completed. “He is a machine offensively – on base, power, and has accomplished a ton already at a young age.”
After a disappointing 2023 – where they finished 82-80 on the year and fourth in the AL East – Soto could have a transformative impact on the Yankees’ prospects in the coming season.
“He’s been one of the rock-solid performers in our sport on the offensive side of the ball, year in and year out,” Boone said.
It’s the second trade in as many days for the Yankees, who acquired outfielder Alex Verdugo from the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday in exchange for three pitchers.
Soto and Verdugo will likely form a revamped outfield in the Bronx, bolstering a lineup featuring sluggers Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton.
The Padres acquired Soto before the trade deadline during the 2022 MLB season from the Washington Nationals. Soto, heading into his seventh year in the big leagues, was a part of the 2019 World Series-winning Nationals squad.
