Padres GM A.J. Preller: Yankees were 'aggressive' in pursuit of Juan Soto
The Juan Soto era with the Yankees has now begun. And while the baseball world felt like a deal between the Padres and Yankees was inevitable, it had its twists and turns that included multiple teams vying to make a deal for the young outfielder.
Padres general manager A.J. Preller spoke to reporters in Nashville after the Soto trade was made official Wednesday night to discuss the deal. During that time, he revealed that 10 teams reached out to San Diego for Soto.
“We had 10 teams that checked in on us, on Juan. Especially since it was getting more publicity in the last week or two that we would at least listen on Juan,” Preller said Wednesday night. “There were 10 teams that checked in and then there were three that were at the final table having conversations. That was some of the activity over the last few weeks.”
One of those three teams was the Yankees, who wound up dealing pitchers Michael King, Drew Thorpe, Jhony Brito, Randy Vasquez and catcher Kyle Higashioka for Soto and outfielder Trent Grisham.
What helped the Yanks stand out from the rest was not just the quality of prospects, but the aggressiveness of general manager Brian Cashman and his team to find an avenue to get the deal done.
“They were aggressive,” Preller said of the Yankees. “They clearly made it known that this was a deal and a player -- Brian’s pretty direct. Everyone understood they had a need. Juan is an incredible player and fit the need really well. When you have two teams that line up and you have a team that is calling you consistently, it gives you a feeling that this can happen and hopefully that it’s a deal that works out for both sides.”
A seven-player blockbuster that will shape both franchises in the short-and long-term. Soto and Grisham will navigate the Yankee Stadium outfield for at least the 2024 season, and join a reshaped outfield corps alongside Aaron Judge and Alex Verdugo.
The Padres pick up a major-league-ready starter in King and the pitching depth that they sorely needed with the potential departures via free agency of Blake Snell, Seth Lugo and Michael Wacha.
For the Yankees, making a deal for Soto was necessary, and the way Cashman and the front office pushed their chips across the table in a way fans haven’t seen in years speaks to that.
