Padres star outfielder Juan Soto is all but certain to be traded this offseason, and ESPN insider Jeff Passan has an idea of his future.
Appearing on ESPN Radio’s The Michael Kay Show, Passan named the Bronx Bombers among Soto’s foremost suitors.
ICYMI on @TMKSESPN:@JeffPassan expects Juan Soto to be traded, which should excite New York Yankees fans. pic.twitter.com/e7E3YSSvGV
— 98.7FM ESPN New York (@ESPNNY98_7FM) November 16, 2023
“I think they’ve got a really good chance of going out and getting him,” Passan said. He cited the Padres’ desperate need for pitching as the primary motivator. We’ve also recently discussed that in our theoretical Yankees trade for Juan Soto.
I think we can officially call that the young lefty is officially the Yankees’ to lose, and for several reasons. He just turned 25 and will probably earn $30 million in salary arbitration next year, his last before free agency. Few teams will be willing to commit that kind of money to Soto, let alone make the deal without an extension in place.
But Yankees general manager Brian Cashman is a smart executive, regardless of what fans on X/Twitter whine about him. He has plenty of pitching to offer San Diego in a trade proposal. It’s just a matter of negotiating the players exchanged—cheap young pitching, in this case—and coming to terms.
Soto played in all 162 games last season and hit .275 with 35 home runs and a 155 wRC+. He also made his third All-Star team and led MLB in walks for the third time in his career. To say he’d do well in Yankee Stadium might be the understatement of the year.
Jeff Passan has also been accurate about this before. In autumn 2022, he went on ESPN and cited a Yankees source who all but confirmed what we all knew. If Judge won the MVP, the Yankees would not be outbid. A poorly timed Jon Heyman tweet later, Judge is the captain of the team.
Let’s see if Passan proves to be baseball’s Nostradamus twice and Soto ends up in pinstripes.
