Padres made mistake with salary dump add-on in Juan Soto-Yankees trade

When Juan Soto was traded from the San Diego Padres to the New York Yankees before the start of the 2024 season, Friars fans mainly focused their disappointment on letting Soto go.

Who could blame us, right? Soto is a once-in-a-generation hitter, and his stint with the Padres did not last very long. He went on to put up MVP-like numbers in pinstripes in 2024 before moving on to the New York Mets. But let's pump the brakes on Soto for a second.

Rather than just losing out on him, Padres fans are wondering what could have been if they hung on to Trent Grisham. Used as a salary dump in the Juan Soto trade to the Bronx, Grisham was almost an afterthought by baseball fans. The two-time Gold Glove outfielder hit below .200 for three consecutive seasons entering 2025, which were his final two years in San Diego, and his first in New York.

Now all of a sudden, Grisham has 12 home runs and 14 walks in 36 games, and he is one of the best all-around hitters. Who is this guy, and why is he one of the best hitters in Major League Baseball right now? How should Padres fans feel about this?

Grisham's career-high in home runs is 17, which he collected in 2022 across 524 plate appearances. Already at a dozen round-trippers this year, Grisham has only logged 128 plate appearances. What gives?

His left-handed swing at Yankee Stadium is advantageous, obviously, but there's something about the way the Yankees turn a forgotten hitter into gold. Matt Carpenter in 2022, Eric Hinske in 2009, and Doug Mientkiewicz in 2007 are all examples of average hitters - at the time they were in pinstripes - who went to the Yankees for a year, played in very few games, but were unbelievably good when they were actually in the lineup.

Grisham also took the Padres deep twice in a three-game slate in the Bronx this season, all while the Padres failed miserably at the hands of a former Yankee. So, that part really stings. The Yankees could be playing with fool's gold, but Grisham is offering a consistent power at the plate that San Diego never saw from him. He recorded an .800 OPS season once in his four seasons with the Friars, but entering May 16 with the Yankees, he boasts a .996 OPS.

Padres fan could be happy for Grisham, but also could be confused and infuriated all at the same time. Where did this pop come from, and why wasn't this ever present in San Diego? Forget Juan Soto, Trent Grisham was the attainable player who got away.