“Yeah, that was a good trade” RUSSO

Yeah, that was a good trade, Christopher Russo said when a caller asked whether Brian Cashman’s decision to acquire Juan Soto had been worth the players the Yankees surrendered.

The question on Mad Dog Unleashed concerned the December 2023 deal with San Diego and Soto’s single season in the Bronx. The caller, introduced as Vinny, emphasized Michael King leaving New York and the risk that Soto would choose another club in free agency.

Russo’s answer centered on the Yankees’ 2024 pennant.

He got him to the World Series, Russo said.

Soto hit 41 home runs during the 2024 regular season. His three-run homer in the 10th inning of ALCS Game 5 against Cleveland helped send the Yankees to the World Series. Those results were the basis of Russo’s assessment, despite Soto subsequently signing with the Mets.

The trade sent King, Jhony Brito, Randy Vásquez, Drew Thorpe and Kyle Higashioka to the Padres for Soto and Trent Grisham. The caller’s question weighed the cost of that package against one season of Soto, rather than asking whether the Yankees had successfully retained him.

Russo then broadened the discussion to the ability of major-market clubs to acquire players approaching free agency. He argued that the Yankees and, particularly, the Dodgers had an advantage because of their chances of subsequently signing those players.

You know, the Yankees and the Dodgers, those two teams specifically, more so Dodgers now, they can make trades for players like that going into the last year of their contract because they have the best chance to sign them,

He used Tarik Skubal as a hypothetical Dodgers example. That part of the discussion was an illustration of Russo’s argument about resources and destination appeal, rather than a report that Los Angeles had made a trade or reached a contract agreement.