NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Yankees promised big moves to address their 2023 disaster and they sure delivered a doozy on the final day of the Winter Meetings.
You didn’t really think they were going to settle for Alex Verdugo as their outfield upgrade, did you?
Not a chance.
Once again, the Yankees are acting like the Yankees. They wanted the best hitter available aside from Shohei Ohtani and they got their man Wednesday night acquiring three-time All-Star Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in a six-player blockbuster.
A day after the Yankees acquired Verdugo from the Red Sox to fill one of two outfield holes, the Yankees made a much bigger splash bringing in Soto and centerfielder Trent Grisham for four pitchers — Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito and Drew Thorpe — and catcher Kyle Higashioka.
The teams agreed on players Wednesday afternoon, but the Yankees were forced to wait several hours for the Padres to sign off while their medical team reviewed records of the incoming pitchers.
Surprisingly, the Yankees didn’t flip Verdugo to the Padres as a replacement for Soto.
With Verdugo in the mix, the Yankees may shuffle their outfield so that Soto, which doesn’t ground much ground, can play in the short right field at Yankee Stadium instead of the big left field. With Soto in right, Aaron Judge would move from right to center with Verdugo, a standout defender, manning left.
Grisham, 27, also will be in the mix for starts in center. He’s a two-time Gold Glove winner. The left-handed hitter batted .198 with 13 homers and 50 RBI in 153 games last season.
Soto is “super happy” to be joining the Yankees, his father Juan Soto Jr. told an NJ Advance Media source in a phone call Wednesday.
Anticipating a trade this week, Soto traveled from his home in the Dominican Republic to his residence in Miami during this week’s Winter Meetings just in case he needed to travel to New York in a hurry.
There is risk to this deal because Soto might be just a one-year rental…
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