Boil it all down, and Juan Soto did what he was supposed to do for the Padres.
He provided a big 2023 season after fueling the 2022 club’s much-needed advance to the playoffs. Performing well enough to ensure he’d be a hot trade chip — a scenario A.J. Preller raised soon after acquiring him 16 months ago — Soto now goes to the Yankees in a trade that will import four young pitchers and a catcher. In addition, his exit provides salary relief that may help put center fielder Jung-Hoo Lee in Padres pinstripes.
Soto can’t be blamed for the Padres’ Big Four never congealing last season, or for Jake Cronenworth’s poor season.
He played all 162 games and led the club in home runs (35), RBIs (109), runs (97) and OPS (.930). He drew a majors-best 132 walks.
And if the $258-million Padres had reached the postseason instead of flopping?
Soto’s 20 home runs and 62 RBIs over the 72-game second half pointed toward his reprising October magic he supplied the 2019 Washington Nationals in the franchise’s first World Series-winning performance.
I’m well aware of Soto’s struggles: that he slugged well below his career norms in his two months with the 2022 Padres; that he vanished during key stretches this past year; that he erred in two corner outfield spots and on the basepaths.
Soto brought to mind Mark Grace’s smart axiom that some hitters beat you, others bury you. Soto, in case you’re wondering, was more the latter.
Trees. Forest.
The Padres were desperate for someone to outperform the ineffective hitters who’d been playing right field for them in 2022. Soto got that done by reaching base at a 39-percent rate and hitting six home runs, offsetting his weak slug rate of .390. The team was able to eke out the franchise’s first playoff berth in 16 years, leading to some of the franchise’s most exciting postseason moments.
Last season it was impressive to see Soto overcome numerous challenges — an oblique strain late in spring training, MLB’s new pitch clock and a timing-and-swing issue that had plagued him in 2022 with both the Nationals and the Padres.
Leading to more groundballs and fewer hard drives to the opposite field, he was pulling off pitches.
Through painstaking work he regained the form that made him a dangerous hitter to all fields. Beginning with a five-hit performance in which he swatted two hits to left field, Soto would bat .290 with 25 home runs, 82 RBI and .410 on-base percentage over his final 100 games.
Yankees pitcher Michael King throws against the Brewers during a Sept. 9 game in New York.
(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
Michael King heads the pitchers the Padres obtained for sending Soto and center fielder Trent Grisham to the Yankees.
King, 25, is under San Diego’s control for two more years and figures to join Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove in the rotation.
In eight starts to close last season after moving from the bullpen, the righty logged a 1.88 ERA.
King joins a team whose above-average defense last year contributed to the Padres finishing second out of 30 teams in run prevention.
Expect Preller to add lefty hitters now that he has parted with the only lefty hitter who didn’t have a below-average season for last year’s team.
A lefty, Lee counts Padres infielder Ha-Seong Kim among his friends. Wearing Ichiro’s jersey number 51, the 25-year-old batted .349 with a 23 home runs and a .421 on-base percentage last year in South Korea.
