Sports

Juan Soto is no longer a Padre, what’s next for the Friars?

Hal'e Martin, Sports Editor • December 12, 2023

Well, the Padres no longer have the 25 year-old phenom from the Dominican Republic, although they received lots of great pieces in this trade, they lost Juan Soto. What are they trying to do?

The San Diego Padres recently traded Juan Soto to the New York Yankees, dumping a significant portion of their payroll. (New York Yankees)

After this blockbuster trade occured, the Padres have to be looking to rebuild. After losing Juan Soto the Padres not only lost their right fielder but with that comes his salary which is great for the Padres as they are looking to build for the future. Soto was costing them $23 million and if he would’ve stayed with the Friars, over the span of the 2023 and 2024 season would have cost them a total $53 million!

But to say that the Padres didn’t get a great haul in return isn’t fair. The Friars received 4 pitchers, and a catcher, two of these pitchers were Top-100 prospects within the Yankees system. One of the pitchers the Padres received was Michael King, a reliever who can make an impact in the Padres bullpen especially with the potential departure of Josh Hader so King could become that new closer and fill that closing role for the Friars. Also with the possible departure of Blake Snell, things are looking rough for the Padres.

At this point the odds of the Padres signing any big name free agents are slim to none, especially because 2023 Cy Young winner, Blake Snell, said he wanted to sign with a more competitive club such as the Phiilies, Mariners, or Mets. Some fans are speculating that Snell will sign with the Mariners as he is from the Seattle area and is looking to do big things with a young club. But the question then becomes, with Seattle’s rotation, where does Snell fit?

But just because the Friars aren’t looking to sign big name players, doesn’t mean that they can’t trade for a big name bat to replace Soto’s absence in right field.

The Padres are looking to do big things in 2024 after a very disappointing 2023 season, especially after they signed Xander Bogaerts to a long term deal, and still have both Manny Machado and Fernando Tatis Jr., under contract for a long time. But that won’t come without someone decent but someone who can make an impact in right field.

The 2024 season for the Padres isn’t looking too great at the moment but who knows, maybe there could be a miracle in San Diego.

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