Dodgers: Watch LA Broadcaster's Hilarious Response to Juan Soto Question
We all knew it was going to cost a lot to acquire Juan Soto, and the Padres ended up being the team willing to pay that price.
Padres general manager AJ Preller was able to pry Soto (and Josh Bell) away from the Nationals, and all it took was six players, including a huge chunk of San Diego's top prospects.
The Padres sent Mackenzie Gore and CJ Abrams, both of whom were highly touted prospects before making the jump to the big leagues. They also included prospects James Wood, Jarlin Susana, and Robert Hassell III.
They tried to include the remains of Eric Hosmer, but it stated in his will that he couldn't be traded to the Nationals, so they sent Luke Voit to the Nats and sent Hosmer to the Red Sox in a separate deal.
The Padres have created a "Big Three" of Soto, Manny Machado, and Fernando Tatis Jr. to compete with the Dodgers' Big Three of Mookie Betts, Trea Turner, and Freddie Freeman, with one of the main differences being that all three of the Dodgers' stars are currently playing in the major leagues.
That star-studded Padres offense is backed by a starting pitching rotation of Joe Musgrove, Blake Snell, Mike Clevinger, Yu Darvish, and Sean Manaea, with the recently acquired three-time NL Reliever of the Year Josh Hader ready to close games out.
That star power comes at a price. After the trade deadline acquisitions of Soto, Bell, Hader, and Brandon Drury, the Padres have a total payroll of $213.65 million this year, according to Spotrac. That's more than double their payroll from 2019.
Soto will hit free agency in a couple years, which led to Fox Sports commentator (and Dodgers TV analyst) Dontrelle Willis joking about how expensive this Padres team might get soon.
The Gaslamp Quarter in San Diego is known for its great night life, amazing food, and high prices. Like Flemings and Greenhouse Prime Steakhouse, the Gaslamp Quarter is expensive and fancy, just like the Padres. The question is, how long can the Padres keep that up?
