Juan Soto was traded to the Yankees and the Mariners missed their chance at a star

From the time that Juan Soto was rumored to move from the Washington Nationals, there was a wonder if it wouldn't be the only time that he was traded before he became eligible for free agency. Once he went to the Padres, that expectation grew with the amount of money that they had on the books. The 2023 offseason was one where it was expected to see him traded once again, and that came to fruition when Juan Soto was traded to the New York Yankees.

It was in the works for quite a while, and in the week leading up to the trade it seemed like the Yankees were the only true option for where he was going to go. I don't know if this was a request by Soto to go to the Yankees, a Padres preference to send him across the country and get him off the West Coast, or truly that the Yankees were the best offer out there. It is worth noting that Trent Grisham was on here as well, likely to help shed more salary for the Padres with his arb 2 status and ~$5M.

Is that true though? Should another team have offered more for Juan Soto. What I want to do is take a look at this and see if the Mariners missed out on Soto. Could they have made a better offer in order to get him? Let's look at the trade from a couple of vantage points to see if the Mariners missed out.