San Diego Smart Call: Padres Avoid Massive Contract, Opt for Flexibility Instead
The Padres giving $765 million to one player? No way that was going to happen.
Did trading Juan Soto hurt? Of course it did. But seeing what Michael King has developed into, what Kyle Higashioka did this past season, what Drew Thorpe helped San Diego get from the White Sox and who Randy Vasquez and Jhony Brito could be and I think Padres fans have to be happy the team ultimately decided to make the smart move.
Baseball is the ultimate team sport and the Padres did a great job at improving the team after a terribly disappointing 2023 season.
Yankees fans could say they’ve won the trade still because they made it to the World Series with him but you cannot convince me Brian Cashman acquired Soto for one year (and if he did then they failed too because they didn’t win ring number 28).
Especially with what we know now, the Padres didn’t have the pressure to win like the Yankees did this past season and now San Diego still has King and Dylan Cease at the top of their rotation while the Yankees have to go spend hundreds of millions of dollars if they want to go get Corbin Burnes or Max Fried.
Oh, and that Soto hole is pretty big at the moment.
No, I’m not advocating to go hang the “won the Soto trade” banner at Petco Park but I’m in a better mood right now than I would’ve been if Soto walked for nothing to go sign that same deal.
Should be an entertaining week in the baseball world!
