Fantasy Index

header banner img
OCTOBER IN-SEASON CHEAT CHEATS AVAILABLE NOW
Win here.

Fantasy Baseball Index

New York Yankees trade for Juan Soto

It was a foregone conclusion that Juan Soto wouldn’t play for the San Diego Padres anymore. The team couldn’t afford the steep salary he commands, especially when they must shore up their pitching staff and outfield rotation. Speculations about his destination ended after the Padres and the New York Yankees completed a trade involving the dynamic hitter.

As the Yankees received Soto and Trent Grisham, the Padres welcomed four right-handed pitchers (Michael King, Jhony Brito, Drew Thorpe, Randy Vasquez) and a catcher (Kyle Higashioka).

The Dominican Republic native played 162 games last season, batting .275/.410/.519. He had 156 hits, 109 runs batted in, and 35 home runs in 568 at-bats. His dominating presence at home plate made him the league leader in walks with 132.

Those numbers earned Soto his fourth Silver Slugger Award in six seasons. He became an MLB All-Star and finished sixth in the National League Most Valuable Player Award voting in 2023. It’s also the fourth time he received votes for the NL MVP Award throughout his major league career.

Juan Soto is hitting .281/.421/.524 through six seasons. He has 768 hits, 483 RBIs, and 160 home runs in 3,375 plate appearances.

It’s uncommon to see a player of Soto’s caliber getting traded twice early in his MLB journey. In August 2022, the Washington Nationals traded him and Josh Bell to the Padres for six players (Luke Voit, James Wood, MacKenzie Gore, Jarlin Susana, Robert Hassell, and CJ Abrams). Three years earlier, Soto helped the Nationals win the World Series.

This time, he will join a Yankees roster that badly needs outfield depth. They have Jake Bauers, Harrison Bader, and Aaron Judge as their listed starters, with Greg Allen, Isiah Kiner-Falefa, and Billy McKinney backing them up.

The Yankees also recently traded for former Boston Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo. Giancarlo Stanton also occasionally plays as an outfielder but is mainly the Yankees’ designated hitter.

The Yankees finished with an 82-80 record last season, their worst since finishing 76-86 in 1992, excluding the 1994 and 1995 strike-shortened seasons and the 2020 COVID-shortened season. They collectively batted .227, the second-worst rate last season.

Juan Soto made his MLB debut in 2018, three years after signing with the Nationals as an international free agent. He took home National League Rookie of the Year honors, finishing with a .292 batting average, 70 RBIs, 121 hits, and 22 home runs in 414 at-bats.

-Lance Fernandez

Fantasy Index