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

Juan Soto was traded to the Yankees, and the Mariners should've gone for it to meet or exceed what the Padres received in the deal.

By Christopher O'Day |
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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.

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?

Juan Soto Trade - Should the Mariners have offered that same deal?

I don't know that the Mariners have players that exactly fit this deal. No relievers that became starters (unless you wanna but Prelander Berroa in?), and they lost Tom Murphy to free agency, so there goes the backup catcher option. Maybe we could do something like this.

SP Bryan Woo
SP Prelander Berroa
SP Ty Adcock
C Blake Hunt

Hey, look at that. I did put Berroa in. If the Mariners are taking on Grisham, I think you can send out a little less. If they weren't taking Grisham, then I think you need to up it a bit, and that might mean going to Emerson Hancock in the Jhony Brito role of good pitching prospect who is close. Bryan Woo is a relam of his own here, showing success and want from other teams in deals, taking the place of the #5 and #13 prospects here.

We do add in Blake Hunt who came over from Tampa to get the Padres their catching piece. Hunt actually just slid into the Mariners top 30 prospects. Joyce sits at #23, a few spots above Hunt. Is this a deal that the Mariners would do though? Is it even enough? Do you have to go Woo+Hancock+Berroa+Hunt? Should you?

Juan Soto Trade - Final Thoughts

This bugs me, I think. You would be giving up your backup catcher (meh/to be decided on), a lower level pitcher who is ready for the Majors in Adcock, and then two guys who are definitely ready or already there. Berroa could be a lot of fun if he finds some modicum of control, and Woo has the makings of a long-time major leaguer who could be a #3 in your rotation at some point.

Even if you bump them up and go Woo+Hancock+Berroa+Hunt, I think you have to take a serious look at that to get Soto. I really do.

Do you give up all that control on Berroa and Woo plus the flier on the other players in order to get a superstar with only one year left on his deal? It's an expensive year as well, projected to be around $30M. For a team that is shwoing no inclinations of spending money, it's a big ask.

Here's the thing, though. Could you make this deal, then sign a handful of low-end guys to fill out those last spots? It would put you around $50M in additions. What kind of damage could a Julio/Soto combo do? For an organization so concerned about money, doesn't it seem like those two would bring in a lot of it?

It's close, and there are definitely options I would rather see the Mariners take this offseason to improve. However, for that cost in a trade, I think the Mariners should've gone for it and traded for Juan Soto, and instead missed their opportunity to acquire a star hitter.

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