Four years later, the Juan Soto trade still has its fingerprints all over both the Padres and the Nationals, and this week’s series in San Diego puts that reality right back on display.
The original blockbuster sent Soto and Josh Bell to the Padres, but it came at a steep price: CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore, James Wood, Robert Hassell III, Jarlin Susana, and Luke Voit headed the other way. Not every piece has turned into much in Washington, but Abrams and Wood have grown into two of the best hitters in the National League, while Susana has emerged as one of baseball’s top prospects.
That makes this matchup a little more layered than a typical late-season series. The Padres are trying to keep their NL Wild Card hopes alive, and the Nationals are arriving with some of the very players San Diego once moved on from in its pursuit of Soto.
Wood and Abrams have been productive enough to rank among the 27 best players in the Senior Circuit by fWAR this season, with Wood at 4.1 and Abrams at 3.2. That puts them in the same neighborhood as the Padres’ top two position players, Fernando Tatis Jr. and Ty France, who sit at 4.1 and 3.3.
San Diego’s answer on the mound also has its own Soto-era twist. Michael King, Randy Vasquez, and reliever Jhony Brito came to the Padres in the Soto-to-Yankees deal, and while King won’t pitch after facing his former team over the weekend, Vasquez and Brito are expected to appear against Washington.
The trade tree keeps branching from there. Abimelec Ortiz, who now often hits near the top of the Nationals’ order, was one of the key pieces acquired in the MacKenzie Gore deal from this past offseason. Batting between Wood and Abrams, he’s another offshoot of the Soto swap that could matter in this series.
The larger point is hard to miss: the Soto move didn’t just reshape one roster. It spread across both clubs, and it’s still showing up whenever these teams meet. If the Padres’ pitchers can contain Washington’s lineup, they’ll have at least one week where their side of the deal looks intact.
In Other News...
Diamondbacks Face A Brutal Late Wild Card Test Against San Diego
The Wild Card picture has tightened enough that every series feels like it carries a little extra weight, and the Padres are right in the middle of that squeeze. ESPNs MLB experts, including Jorge Castillo, are leaning toward San Diego to grab the third and final National League Wild Card spot over Arizona, a call driven mostly by what the Padres can still lean on when games get tight: a deeper lineup and a bullpen that can shorten nights in a hurry.
Even with recent offensive struggles and some uncertainty in the starting rotation, San Diego still has the kind of names that can tilt a race, from Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado to Xander Bogaerts. And if the Padres can hand leads to Mason Miller late, the margin for error gets a lot smaller for everyone else chasing them, which is exactly why this stretch run feels so uncomfortable for the Diamondbacks. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Win Created A Yankees Pitching Decision Worth Watching
The Padres latest win over the Yankees did more than add another result to the standings. It also pushed New York into a roster move that is worth keeping an eye on as the regular season winds down, with the Yankees needing to manage both performance and flexibility on the pitching side.
Elmer Rodriguez was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre to open a spot on the active roster, a routine transaction that keeps the right-hander in the organization and available for a potential return later. He has made six starts this season with a 5.40 ERA and a high walk rate, and the Yankees will be hoping a stretch in the minors helps him sharpen the command issues that have made his big league role harder to hold. [Read more 🡒]
Padres Got The Rotation Boost Fans Desperately Needed
Nick Pivetta gave the Padres exactly the kind of stabilizing start they needed in a tight spot, stepping in at the last minute and helping San Diego turn an early lead into a 3-2 win over the Nationals. The offense did its part quickly against Jake Irvin, with Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill all helping the Padres get on the board before the game settled into a low-scoring grind.
From there, the bullpen had to protect a slim margin and did so well enough to finish off a much-needed victory. Mason Miller handled the final inning and picked up his 34th save, giving San Diego a cleaner finish than the circumstances suggested when the day began. [Read more 🡒]