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

Juan Soto Trade - Did the Mariners miss out?

Let's check out the prospects that the Yankees sent to the Padres in order to get Soto.

RP Michael King
SP Jhony Brito
RHP Drew Thorpe (#5 Prospect)
RHP Randy Vasquez (#13 prospect)
C Kyle Higashioka

Let's start at the top. King was a really good reliever in 2022. However, they put him back into the rotation in 2023 after moving him to the pen in 2021. It looked good, too, as he showed a mix of being able to go deep into games and throwing 6-7 innings, while striking out a ton of people still, like the 13K game against the Blue Jays on September 20th. He has two years of control left and is a FA in 2026.

Next up is Jhony Brito. He debuted this year as a starter with varied success. His FIP was worse by a fair amount than his ERA, and he was moved to a long reliever at the end of the season. He did make 13 starts, so it's likely they try and make him a starter going forward, especially with the 5 years remaining control.

Higashioka is a throw-in, essentially, a back up catcher. He has hit 10 HR each of the last three seasons while slashing a combined .217/.263/.398, and the 34-year-old will be a FA after this season.

Then, you have the two prospects. it's obvious that the Padres wanted pitching, as they took the #5 and #13 prospects from the Yankees, both pitchers. Vazquez made it up this season and threw well across 35 or so innings, while Thorpe is expected to reach the majors in 2025.

What kind of package could the Mariners put together to match this?