REPORT: Details of the Padres’ return in the Juan Soto trade

In exchange for Juan Soto and Trent Grisham, the Padres receive three rotation pieces, a catcher and a starting pitching prospect from the New York Yankees

This is not a fire sale, so long as the Padres indeed are using the money saved in the Juan Soto trade to address various holes on a roster that will still run A.J. Preller some $200 million on opening day.

That does not mean the Padres won either Soto trade.

The first — by virtue of giving up so many controllable assets, not winning the World Series in 2022 or even making the postseason this year — would be hard to be viewed as anything but a loss given the way things played out.

Sure, the second trade could mitigate that some. But the upside isn’t nearly what the Padres gave up in August 2022, when they traded MacKenzie Gore, CJ Abrams, James Wood, Robert Hassell III and Jarlin Susana to the Nationals — even if Wednesday’s haul includes a mix of major-leaguers, an interesting developmental piece and payroll flexibility.

Nor should it be given the fact that the Padres received two-plus years of Soto at the time of the first trade and the Yankees get just one year of Soto, as well as two years of two-time Gold Glover Trent Grisham.

But the Padres certainly received quantity in Wednesday’s deal.

Here’s a look at who they’re adding to the organization, beginning with the established big-league pieces and trickling down to the one prospect acquired in the package:

MICHAEL KING

• Position: Right-handed pitcher
• Bats/throws: Right / Right
• Opening-day age: 28
• Height/weight: 6-foot-3 / 210 pounds
• Contract status: King is arbitration-eligible for the second time this winter and will not be a free agent until 2026; he earned $1.3 million in 2023 and is projected to make $2.6 million in 2024 by MLBTradeRumors.com.
• 2023 team(s): Yankees (MLB)
• Key 2023 stats: 4-8, 2.75 ERA, 6 saves, 127 strikeouts, 32 walks, .226 opponent avg., 1.15 WHIP, 104 2/3 innings (49 games, 9 starts)
• Things to know: Went 1-4 with a 2.23 ERA, 51 strikeouts and a .639 opponent OPS in nine starts in 2023. … Ranked in the top 6 percent of the league with a plus-8 off-speed run value and in the top 12 percent with a 29.5 percent strikeout rate. … Pitch breakdown in 2023: Sinker (94 mph, 33.5 percent), sweeper (81.8 mph, 29.3 percent), four-seamer (94.7 mph, 22.7 percent) and change-up (87.2 mph, 14.5 percent). … Last ranked as a prospect by Baseball America in 2021, when he was No. 27 in the Yankees system. … Originally selected in 12^th round out of Boston College by the Marlins in 2016. … Traded to the Yankees in November 2017 for 1B Garrett Cooper and LHP Caleb Smith.

KYLE HIGASHIOKA

• Position: Catcher
• Bats / Throws: Right/right
• Opening-day age: 33
• Height/weight: 6-foot-1 / 202 pounds
• Contract status: Arbitration eligible for the last time this winter; will be a free agent in 2025; earned $1.46 million in 2023 and projected to make $2.4 million in 2024 by MLBTradeRumors.com.
• 2023 team(s): Yankees (MLB)
• Key 2023 stats: .236 avg., .274 OBP, .413 SLG, 10 HRs, 34 RBIs, 24 runs, 0 steals, 14 walks, 74 strikeouts (92 games, 260 plate appearances)
• Things to know: Ranked in the top-10 in framing runs (6), according to Statcast. Ranked in the 36^th percentile in pop time (1.98 seconds), bottom-8 percentile in caught stealing runs (minus-4) and bottom-1 percentile in blocks above average (minus-12). … Never ranked as a top-30 prospect in the Yankees system by Baseball America. … Signed for $500,000 as a seventh-round pick in 2008 out of Huntington Beach’s Edison High School.

RANDY VASQUEZ

• Position: Right-handed pitcher
• Bats/throws: Right / Right
• Opening-day age: 25
• Height/weight: 6-foot/165 pounds
• Contract status: Will not be arbitration eligible until 2027
• 2023 team(s): Yankees (MLB)
• Key 2023 stats: 2-2, 2.87 ERA, 33 strikeouts, 18 walks, .211 opponent avg., 1.27 WHIP, 37 2/3 innings (11 games, 5 starts)
• Things to know: Pitch mix in the majors in 2023: four-seamer (94.4 mph, 26 percent), sinker (94.2 mph, 22.4 percent), cutter (87.7 mph, 16.6 percent), sweeper (80.9 mph, 12.7 percent), change-up (87.8 mph, 11.8 percent) and curve (79.7 mph, 10.5 percent). … Was No. 9 in the Yankees system as ranked by Baseball America in 2023. Wrote BA: “Vasquez works primarily with a combination of four- and two-seam fastballs, each of which average roughly 92-93 mph, and a sweeping curveball that he uses to get swings and misses.”

JHONY BRITO

• Position: Right-handed pitcher
• Bats/throws: Right / Right
• Opening-day age: 26
• Height/weight: 6-foot-2 / 210 pounds
• Contract status: Will not be arbitration eligible until 2027
• 2023 team(s): Yankees (MLB)
• Key 2023 stats: 9-7, 4.28 ERA, 1 save, 72 strikeouts, 28 walks, .244 opponent avg., 1.22 WHIP, 90 1/3 innings (25 games, 13 starts)
• Things to know: Ranked in the top 17 percent in fastball velocity in 2023 (95.9 mph) but in the bottom 14 percent in whiff rate (21.5 percent). … Brito’s 2023 pitch mix: Sinker (96.0 mph, 32.2 percent), change-up (88.8 mph, 29 percent), curve (81.4 mph, 20.2 percent), four-seamer (95.8 mph, 17 percent) and slider (86.3 mph, 1.6 percent). … Was No. 30 in the Yankees system as ranked by Baseball America in 2023. BA wrote that Brito is “considered the organization’s most adept strike-thrower, and his pitch package has gotten deeper and better in recent years as well.”

DREW THORPE

• Position: Right-handed pitcher
• Bats/throws: Left / Right
• Opening-day age: 23
• Height/weight: 6-foot-4 /212 pounds
• Contract status: Has yet to make MLB debut; drafted in second round in 2022 out of Cal Poly
• 2023 team(s): Hudson Valley (A+), Somerset (AA)
• Key 2023 stats: 14-2, 2.52 ERA, 182 strikeouts, 38 walks, .199 opponent avg., 0.98 WHIP, 139 1/3 innings (23 starts)
• Things to know: His 182 strikeouts led the minors. … Ranked second in WHIP and third in ERA and WHIP among pitchers with at least 20 starts. … Named MiLB’s pitching prospect of the year. … Big West Conference pitcher of the year as a junior at Cal Poly. … Signed for $1.187 million as the 61^st overall selection. Ranked No. 99 in MLB.com’s top-100 prospects (No. 5 in Yankees system). Wrote BA: “Owned one of the best changeups in the 2022 Draft and earns double-plus grades from some scouts for his ability to get swings and misses as well as chases with a fading low-80s (pitch). He can do the same with a low-80s slider after adding more depth to it last year. While his fastball features below-average velocity (parking at 89-92 mph, peaking at 95) and mild sink, it plays as an average offering because he commands it and mixes it well with the rest of his arsenal.”