Juan Soto to Padres, rumor updates, news, more
Excitement is building as Major League Baseball’s trade deadline arrives today at 6 p.m. ET. There have already been several big names on the way — and there is no doubt that more will come.
The biggest name on the market has found a new home as the San Diego Padres acquired superstar outfielder Juan Soto from the Washington Nationals. The teams have agreed to a deal that will send Soto and first baseman Josh Bell to San Diego for a package that includes first baseman Eric Hosmer, left-hander MacKenzie Gore and four prospects.
On Monday, the Padres acquired closer Josh Hader, Frankie Montas was traded to the New York Yankees and Trey Mancini was traded to the Houston Astros.
Follow today’s action and get the latest news and rumors counting down to the deadline:
OPINION: The Yankees make it clear at the trade deadline: World Series or bust
ANALYSIS: The Brewers believe they can still win without All-Star closer Josh Hader
MONDAY’S DEADLINE BLOG: Recap of Josh Hader, Frankie Montas deals and more
Juan Soto goes to the Padres
The San Diego Padres are making a huge statement in their bid to reach the World Series by landing the trade deadline’s biggest prize, agreeing to acquire All-Star outfielder Juan Soto and first baseman Josh Bell from the Washington Nationals for first baseman Eric Hosmer, left. -hander MacKenzie Gore and a package of four prospects, shortstop CJ Abrams, outfielders Robert Hassell III and James Wood and right-hander Jarlin Susana.
The Padres want Soto not only for this year’s playoffs, but for the next two seasons. He is eligible for salary arbitration in 2023 and 2024 before becoming an unrestricted free agent. That’s one of the reasons the Nationals were able to extract such a high price for Soto’s services, even though he will command what could be a record salary in arbitration.
Earlier this season, Soto turned down a record 15-year, $440 million contract offer to stay with the Nationals. While the deal would have been the largest in baseball history, it would only average $29.33 million per year — making him the 20th highest-paid player in annual value.
Twins sign Orioles closer Jorge Lopez
Desperate for bullpen help, the Minnesota Twins have acquired 2022 AL All-Star Jorge Lopez from the Baltimore Orioles.
The O’s will receive left-hander Cade Povich, right-handed reliever Yennier Cano and additional low-level prospects in exchange for the 29-year-old Lopez.
In by far the best season of his seven-year career, Lopez has made the transition from a struggling starter (3-14, 6.07 ERA in 2021) to the closer — converting 19 of 23 save opportunities and pitching to a 1.68 ERA in 44 appearances.
The Twins have gone through several closers after trading 2021 All-Star Taylor Rogers to the Padres this spring. Emilio Pagan leads the team with nine saves, but has blown six other save chances and has a 4.75 ERA. Five other Twins relievers have picked up at least one save.
Fantasy winners and losers (so far) from deadline deals
MLB teams aren’t the only ones looking to improve their rosters at the trade deadline. In the upcoming issue of USA TODAY Sports Weekly, Steve Gardner offers his winners and losers from a fantasy standpoint. Here’s a couple of each:
WINNERS
SP Luis Castillo, Marines. Somehow, Castillo managed to put up a 2.86 ERA and 1.07 WHIP with Cincinnati – in one of the most homer-happy ballparks in the majors. In Seattle, he will have a much more neutral home park and a better defense behind him. The schedule also helps that the M’s have 25 games remaining against sub-.500 division opponents, the Angels, Rangers and A’s — and none against the first-place Astros.
RP Devin Williams, Brewers. MLB saves leader Josh Hader’s fantasy value wouldn’t change whether he changed teams or not. But once he did, from the Brewers to the Padres, Williams immediately becomes a top-10 fantasy closer in Milwaukee. Possibly top five. (The Orioles’ Felix Bautista gets a similar boost in value with Jorge Lopez traded to Minnesota.)
1B Trey Mancini, Astros. Mancini was one of the hitters most affected by the Orioles moving the left field wall back 30 feet this season. After hitting 14 homers at Camden Yards a year ago, Mancini had just five there this season (one of them of the inside-the-park variety). The Crawford Boxes in Houston, hitting fly balls at a career high rate, should seem like just a short flight away for Mancini by comparison.
LOSER
SP Frankie Montas, Yankees. When the Mariners landed Castillo first, the Yankees made a strong and successful push for the No. 2 starting pitcher on the market. Montas’ 4-9 record belies his excellent 3.18 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. However, he has taken full advantage of the spacious Oakland Coliseum this season. Over 12 starts in Oakland, Montas has a 2.06 ERA; in seven starts on the road, his ERA is over 5.00.
BY David Peralta, Rays. Primarily a platoon hitter, Peralta shouldn’t see much of a change in his role primarily against righties. However, the AL East is the toughest division in the majors, and the Rays like to adjust their lineups more than most teams. The Rays also acquired outfielder Jose Siri on Monday and should have Manuel Margot and Harold Ramirez back from the injured list soon.
Fantasy managers in AL- and NL-only leagues. This may change with a flurry of activity on deadline day. But as the last 24 hours of trading began to tick down, the number of deals between the divisions was disappointingly small. Perhaps the possibility of a Juan Soto trade has put a number of other deals on hold. Whatever the reason, hoarding your FAAB dollars until the last minute in hopes of snagging a superstar from the opposite league seems like a dangerous game.
Padres frontrunners in Soto contests?
The San Diego Padres are now seen by several observers as “most motivated” teams to put together a package for Juan Soto, in the words of The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal.
They have several high-level prospects — including shortstop CJ Abrams and outfielder Robert Hassell III — who would be critical to creating a package the Nationals would accept.
Barry Svrluga of the Washington Post goes even further, calling the Padres the “most likely landing spot” for Soto. In addition, he says the Padres could also acquire first baseman Josh Bell as part of a Soto deal.
What separates the Padres from the other Soto rumors is that they might have a little more trouble getting him to sign a long-term extension before he becomes a free agent at the end of the 2024 season. That’s because they already have two huge contracts on the books in Fernando Tatis (14 years, $340 million) and Manny Machado (10 years, $340 million). However, Machado’s contract allows him to opt out after the 2024 season.
According to USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale, the Padres wouldn’t necessarily have to deplete their farm system in the coming years if they acquired Soto. They could always trade him for several top prospects before he becomes a free agent.
5 biggest trades from Monday
Yankees land Frankie Montas, has improved all around
New York Yankees have been sitting on top of the baseball world all season, but were much more worried about their team than they have ever revealed publicly.
So what did they do?
They grabbed Oakland A’s ace Frankie Montas on Monday when they couldn’t get Cincinnati Reds ace Luis Castillo. They passed on Brewers All-Star closer Josh Hader, who went to San Diego, but turned around and acquired Oakland closer Lou Trivino in the Montas trade. They also acquired Cubs rookie reliever Scott Effross. They are out for Juan Soto competitions, but acquired Andrew Benintendi from the Kansas City Royals last week.
– Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports
Brewers think they can still win without Josh Hader
The Milwaukee Brewers let teams know in early July that four-time All-Star closer Josh Hader was available, believing they could still win the NL Central without him, but warned the asking price would be high.
Well, they will soon find out if they are right in their assessmenttrades Hader to the San Diego Padres on Monday for closer Trevor Rogers, starter Dinelson Lamet, pitching prospect Robert Gasser and outfield prospect Esteury Ruiz.
“Trading good players to good teams is difficult, and that’s certainly the case with Josh,” Brewers president David Stearns said. “We also recognize that to give our organization the best chance of sustained competitiveness, to avoid the extended downtimes experienced by so many organizations, we must make decisions that are not easy.”
– Bob Nightengale, USA TODAY Sports
The 2022 Tigers were not supposed to be sellers. How it all went wrong.
There was a time, not too long ago, when The Detroit Tigers envisioned a very different approach at the 2022 trade deadline — Tuesday at 6 p.m., less than two hours before they play the Minnesota Twins.
On paper, the Tigers were lined up to compete. But on the field, due to countless injuries and poor performances, the Tigers have the third-worst record in the AL, and the offense – averaging 3.21 runs per game — is one of the worst in baseball history.
“I’m just trying to make sure our guys realize we’re putting ourselves in this situation,” Hinch said. “We have to deal with the consequences of stress, anxiety, curiosity and the reality that if I was on the outside and I had a struggling club I’d have a few that I’d have here too.”
—Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press
