3 Juan Soto trade proposals to help the Padres win in 2024 (and beyond)

In the NBA we see All-Stars traded for other All-Stars all the time. That doesn’t happen very often in Major League Baseball. Usually it’s a superstar dealt for bunch of prospects and solid but not earth-shattering veterans.

Wouldn’t it be fun to see a true blockbuster this winter?

The Padres have almost certainly painted themselves into a corner where they have to trade Juan Soto. They need to get better while getting less expensive, which is extremely difficult to do unless you have a trade chip like Soto to play with. The biggest question most people have is: how do they recoup anywhere close to what they gave up to get him in the first place? The answer is that’s pretty much impossible. Soto is one year from free agency so the team acquiring him is only getting one season instead of two and a half.

But, Soto is a generational talent who would still undoubtedly fetch a fine return. With that in mind, and again with the goal of improving multiple positions while saving money, here are three trade proposals involving Soto and another star that would light a fire under the Hot Stove.

1) Bring Another Polar Bear to San Diego

The San Diego Zoo has one heck of an impressive Polar Bear Plunge. I think it’s time to see another one come to America’s Finest City.

NYM gets:
OF Juan Soto

SD gets:
1B Pete Alonso
RHP Tylor Megill
IF/OF Ronny Mauricio

ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED??? Of course, New York can afford to give Soto the kind of extension he and Scott Boras are going to be looking for so the destination makes sense.

There’s increasing buzz that the Mets are interested in trading Alonso because talks about an extension aren’t going anywhere. The Metropolitans are also apparently inquiring about Soto’s availability.

Why not help each other out?

Soto is estimated to get around $33 million in his final year of arbitration. Alonso is looking at around $22 million so the Friars would save in the neighborhood of $11 million while adding a perennial 45-homer bat at 1st base, where they had the worst power production of any team in the National League last season. It allows them to move Jake Cronenworth to a super-utility role (or maybe just move Jake Cronenworth?) while they figure out if they can sign Ha-Seong Kim to an extension.

Megill has been in and out of the Mets rotation the last two years. He was sent down to Triple-A after a disastrous start to the season and returned to Queens after injuries and trades decimated New York’s pitching staff and seemed to be figuring things out. In five September starts Megill had a 2.76 ERA that included two stellar starts against the Phillies. Plus, he’s still a year away from arbitration so he’ll make the league minimum in 2024.

Mauricio is a 22-year-old switch-hitter and the 87th overall prospect in baseball (according to MLB Pipeline). He got a cup of coffee in the bigs, turning in a .643 OPS in 26 games. Signed as an infielder, the Mets moved him to the outfield, which is probably where he’ll stay. The red flag with Mauricio is plate discipline. He has a low on-base percentage and alarmingly high strikeout rate so he’s a highly talented project that still needs developing.

2) Land a New Cy Young Award Winner

The Padres need staring pitching help so I suggest they go back to a frequent trade partner in the Cleveland Guardians and make a deal.

CLE gets:
OF Juan Soto

SD gets:
RHP Shane Bieber
OF Steven Kwan
OF Chase DeLauter (AA)
Insert name of other Cleveland prospect here

If they can talk Cleveland into adding Emmanuel Clase to the deal that would be amazing but it seems like a little too much to ask for here. Why would both teams consider this? Well, consider this:

The Guardians are seemingly in perpetual need of offense outside Jose Ramirez. They need a middle of the order stud. Enter the Silver Slugger-winning Soto. Cleveland doesn’t typically spend a whole lot but in an AL Central that is very much up for the taking they need to loosen the purse strings and get a superstar.

Bieber is also entering his last year of arbitration and expected to make around $13 million in 2024. Yes, he’s had recent injury concerns but entered the off-season with a clean bill of health and when he’s right, he’s phenomenal. I think getting him back together with Ruben Niebla, who developed the right-hander in the Guardians system, will produce a Bieber that looks an awful lot like the 2020 version who was borderline unhittable.

Kwan comes in and is, at worst, one heck of a 4th outfielder in San Diego. DeLauter raked at Double-A and is one of the top outfield prospects in the game. I’m sure AJ can find one more piece from the Cleveland system that both sides can agree on. The Padres add pieces while shedding payroll. The Guardians get a long-sought after slugger. Win-win.

3) The Bronxbuster Deal That’s Out of This World

You knew this was coming. The Yankees are the team that most often comes up in Soto trade discussions. They need left-handed pop in a bad way. Much like the Mets they have the financial reserves to extend the young slugger. However, it’s too easy to just say put Soto in pinstripes. Let’s get wild:

NYY gets:
OF Juan Soto
IF Jake Cronenworth
RHP Ryan Bergert

SD gets:
LHP Nestor Cortes
OF Jasson Dominguez
RHP Jhony Brito

Finding a way for the Yankees to line up with the Padres for a deal of Soto’s magnitude is going to be tricky. They’d prefer to deal Gleyber Torres but the Padres have no use for another high-priced infielder entering his final year of arbitration. Most of the other New York pieces are either too expensive for the Friars or too important to move. If they want him badly enough they’re going to have to make a few concessions.

The one the Padres should ask for first is relief from Cronenworth’s contract. New York can absorb a 7-year, $80 million pact without really feeling it. Plus, it gives them a nice utility option and a future 2nd baseman if they trade Torres or simply let him walk in free agency after the season.

If the Yanks are going to take on Cronenworth’s contract it’s likely they’ll need at least some kind of prospect capital. Bergert is an organizational depth piece who thrived at Double-A San Antonio but likely doesn’t fit into the Padres long-term plans with other highly touted prospects like Robbie Snelling, Jairo Iriarte, and Adam Mazur at the same level or ahead of him in the system.

Now, you may be asking … who’s the superstar the Padres are getting in return for Soto? Well, the centerpiece of this deal is a stud in the making. The prospect that any team in baseball would like to get its hands on: The Martian.

Jasson Dominguez was given that nickname by a scout who watched him as a kid and said no human has skills like he does. Some baseball scouting types have called him the most hyped international prospect EVER, and that list includes the likes of Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Shohei Ohtani.

The switch-hitting corner outfielder made his big league debut this year as a 20-year-old, hit four bombs in eight games to send the hype machine into overdrive … then underwent Tommy John surgery. He’ll be ready to go in the middle of the 2024 season and a talent like Dominguez is more than worth the wait.

Cortes was an All-Star in 2022 but suffered a shoulder strain that limited him to 12 starts last year. He’s expected to have a clean bill of health when Spring Training rolls around and if he’s anything close to what he is at his best he would be a huge block in the rebuilding of San Diego’s rotation. Plus, he has two years of arbitration remaining and is due to make a little less than $5 million next year.

Brito burst onto the scene as a 25-year-old rookie and made a string of solid starts before the league got a book on him. A few disasters, plus the return of some injured veterans, prompted his move to the bullpen where Brito found another gear, pitching to a 1.43 ERA over 37.2 innings. The Padres would give him a chance to earn a starting spot knowing he can head to the ‘pen, kind of like a new version of Nick Martinez.

Will any of these happen? I don't know. And there's always the chance Soto plays one final year in San Diego, which is not a bad thing by any stretch of the imagination. We'll see at the annual MLB Winter Meetings in the first week of December just how realistic a trade of this magnitude truly is.

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