Baseball fans waiting to see if the trade between the Yankees and Padres involving Juan Soto would be completed were left waiting for hours before the deal was made official in the waning hours of Wednesday night.
Reports throughout the day were that the players involved in the trade were agreed upon, but the deal was not accepted by one or both sides. Something was holding it up, and now we know what.
According to SNY’s Andy Martino, it was the medicals of at least one player going from the Yankees to the Padres that slowed the completion of the deal. Martino adds that the snag did make the Yankees a bit nervous, but San Diego was ultimately comfortable with the medicals.
The medicals of the player didn’t reveal anything major, like to a pitcher’s arm, per Martino.
The trade between the Yankees and Padres involved seven players. The Yankees received Soto and outfielder Trent Grisham while New York sent catcher Kyle Higashioka, pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito and Randy Vasquez.
It makes sense for the Padres to do their due diligence on all of the players coming back in a trade for one of the best players in the game. San Diego GM A.J Preller said shortly after the trade was made official that the Yankees were “aggressive” in their pursuit of Soto, but they are happy with the return, especially with King who is set to be a part of the team’s rotation in 2024.
A day later, Yankees GM Brian Cashman praised the move and how Soto will transform the team’s offense next season.
“It significantly upgrades us without a doubt,” he said. “And the great thing about the ‘crazy 8s’ is that one is right-handed and one is left-handed and so that creates a tougher lineup to navigate for the opposing pitchers… We still have more work to do and we know that, but we are really excited by what this acquisition can do for both balance and impact and certainly excited for the opportunity to bring him here.”
For the Yankees, they’ll have one guaranteed season with Soto, but the young outfielder is set to become a free agent at the end of the 2024 season. It’ll be interesting to see if New York can reach an agreement on an extension before that happens.
