In one of the biggest trade deals of this off-season so far, the New York Yankees acquired superstar Juan Soto from the San Diego Padres in a groundbreaking player swap deal. In exchange for Soto and Trent Grisham, the Bombers parted with Michael King, Randy Vasquez, Jhony Brito, Drew Thorpe, and Kyle Higashioka.
Having said that, Juan Soto is only a one-year rental piece for the New York Yankees. His original contract with the Padres runs through the end of the 2024 season. Regardless, the franchise leadership unanimously agreed to the risk and thus traded Soto at winter meetings. Having said that, moments before the arbitration deadline closed down, the two parties agreed to a record compensation.
Yankees-Juan Soto Agreed To $31 Million Salary For 2024 Season
Arbitration in MLB is a process used to resolve salary disputes between eligible players and their teams. It occurs when a player and his team cannot come to an agreement on a new contract, and both parties submit salary proposals to an arbitrator. If the player and the team cannot reach an agreement through negotiations, the case goes to an arbitration hearing. Having said that, the deadline to reach an agreement with arbitration-eligible players closed down on Thursday, and an enormous amount of money was spent by several MLB teams. Meanwhile, the New York Yankees topped the list by offering the largest compensation to its newly acquired generational talent, Juan Soto.
As per several media reports, the Yankees and Juan Soto have agreed on a $31 million salary for the 2024 season. Soto is entering his walk year this season and will become a free agent by October. The 25-year-old generational talent has a .284 career batting average with 160 homers and staggering .946 OPS. He is a three-time All-Star outfielder who barely missed out on the NL-MVP in 2022. Regardless, this season, the Padres shipped him away to the Bronx owing to financial constraints. Soto is expected to resolve the Bronx Bombers’ long-withstanding offensive woes and perhaps bring the prized World Series trophy back home. That being said, Soto will formally join the unit on February 20 at the franchise’s training facility in Tampa for spring training. It would be interesting to see how Soto reacts to the change of scenery.
Juan Soto Bonds With Newest Yankee Marcus Stroman On Social Media
It is being reported that the Yankees agreed to a two-year $37 million deal with free agent pitcher Marcus Stroman after holding productive talks in Tampa last week. The long-withstanding beef between GM Brian Cashman and Stroman was apparently resolved as the duo sat across the table in Tampa. While the deal is yet to be formally announced, Juan Soto has marked his approval.
On an Instagram post highlighting Marcus Stroman and Juan Soto’s reunion at Yankees, Soto dropped a comment saying, “We shuffle together now.” Not only that, Stroman shared a screenshot of the comment on his Instagram story. It seems the Bombers’ newest additions are getting along really well. However, NYY has yet to officiate the signing via its respective media channels.