The San Diego Padres, needing to cut costs, have traded star outfielder Juan Soto in a package with Trent Grisham to the New York Yankees, according to Joel Sherman and Jon Heyman of The New York Post.
The Padres, despite being a relatively small market, had one of the highest payrolls in baseball last season — but missed the playoffs. The Athletic reported the team took out a $50-million loan late last season.
Soto is expected to make more than $30 million in his final year of salary arbitration.
An all-star the past three seasons and the NL batting champion in 2020, Soto, 25, was traded to the Padres by the Washington Nationals in a blockbuster deal in August 2022.
The Dominican native slashed .275/.410/.519 with a career-high 35 homers and 109 RBIs in 2023.
Soto broke into the major leagues as a 19-year-old in 2018 with the Nationals, winning the World Series in 2019.
For his 779-game career, Soto has hit .284/.421/.524 with 160 homers and 483 RBIs. He also is disciplined at the plate, walking 640 times against 577 strikeouts.
Grisham provides the Yankees with a defensive boost to join an outfield that will feature Soto, Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo. The 27-year-old centre fielder hit .198/.315/.352 with 13 home runs in 153 games for the Padres in 2023. Defensively, he totalled seven outs above average.
