San Diego For any big leaguer looking to play for a long period, Juan Soto believes San Diego is a fantastic destination.
For him, it simply wasn’t meant to be.
For the first time since the Padres traded him to the New York Yankees on December 7, Soto made his way back to San Diego on Friday.
“I had a wonderful time in San Diego. Before the Yankees, leading the AL East at 35-17, which is the second-best record in the majors, began a weekend series against the Padres, who are 27-26 and six 1/2 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West, Soto said, “It was unbelievable.”
In just 16 months, Soto was engaged in two huge deals.
On August 2, 2022, Soto was acquired by the Padres from Washington in an eight-player deal after he declined the Nationals’ $440 million, 15-year contract. He was supposed to be with the Padres for three postseason runs. Despite having the third-highest payroll in baseball, they were a huge disappointment not to make it to the postseason in 2023, despite a thrilling run to the NL Championship Series in 2022.
Soto declared that he was ready to spend this season back in San Diego.
But the Padres found themselves in financial limbo after free-spending owner Peter Seidler passed away on November 14. On December 7, in a seven-player trade, they shipped Soto to the Yankees in an effort to reset their luxury tax and to add pitching.
“We never get the chance to keep talking a little bit farther with the Padres, but it was a great team, great fanbase,” Soto stated. Ultimately, though, we were unable to complete it and had to continue on.
“I’m more than content with where I am right now. I’m ecstatic,” he declared.
On January 11, Soto and the Yankees reached a $31 million, one-year agreement that broke the previous record held by Shohei Ohtani for a player eligible for arbitration. In his lone full season with the Padres last year, Soto received a $23 million salary. At the conclusion of this season, at the age of 26, the outfielder will be eligible to become a free agency.
“It’s going to be cool,” Soto said of playing against his former teammates. Those folks, I knew them. We’re going to enjoy ourselves tremendously out there.”
He had no idea what to anticipate from the supporters.
They were always there for me, so it’s a little difficult for me. I play hard every day and I try my hardest, but I didn’t perform at my best,” he remarked. One of the reasons I felt so bad about it was that I was unable to truly demonstrate to them my abilities. It feels great to put myself out there and give it my best, but I’m not sure how they’ll respond. Baseball is played. It’s absurd. Anything may happen tonight, I hope.”
Soto is striking.312 with 41 RBI and 13 home runs. He is in the majors’ Top 10 in a number of offensive statistics.
Manager Aaron Boone, a member of baseball’s first family to produce
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